Late for your Lyft? Your tardiness will cost you
Lyft has introduced wait-time fees for slowpokes
Ridesharing service Lyft will now charge wait-time fees to encourage users to meet their drivers more promptly.
If you delay a driver by more than two minutes after they arrive at the pickup location at the scheduled arrival time, you’ll now be charged a fee for every minute they are made to wait for you. Lux Black and Lux Black XL rides – Lyft’s luxury pickup services – will only start charging wait fees five minutes after arriving.
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Lyft wait-time fees
🦥 Lyft now charges fees for slow passengers
⌛ If you leave your driver waiting for more than two minutes, you’ll be penalized
😮 The wait-time fees are charged at a per-minute rate
👏 Passengers with disabilities can have the charges waived
As spotted by The Verge, Lyft outlines the change on its support page, but doesn’t specify how much will be charged in late fees per minute. It says wait time fees will “vary by location” and “additional wait time charges may apply to your trip depending on how busy it is”.
Even if a driver arrives at a pickup location early, the waiting fees will only start ticking up two minutes after the original estimated pickup time. Additionally, those who have disabilities or need more time to board a vehicle can submit a waiver to exempt themselves from wait-time fees and “will be refunded for previous wait-time fee charges upon request”.
The new fee also won’t apply to several types of Lyft rides, including Lyft Shared, Lyft Access, Lyft Assisted, and Car Seat rides. You also won’t need to pay if your ride is canceled and you’re charged a cancellation fee. Speaking to Gizmodo, Lyft said drivers have the option to cancel a ride if the passenger doesn’t show up after five minutes.
The company also said the wait-time fees were quietly introduced last month, but it seems as if no one has actually noticed them, or the online support page hasn’t gone live, until now.
Uber instituted wait-time fees back in 2016. They operate on a similar basis, giving users a free window to get to their ride after it’s arrived, before charging a fee at a per-minute rate. Uber transparently outlines its fees on a support page, which shows premium ride options like UberLUX come with longer free waiting periods.
Uber reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the US Department of Justice last year to resolve a lawsuit that alleged the company had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by charging wait-time fees. It argued the company failed to reasonably account for passengers with disabilities who needed longer to get into a vehicle, and offered 65,000 users compensation for the “discriminatory fees”.
The disability provisions Lyft has already outlined look like a way to avoid similar legal challenges.
If you’re someone who plays fast and loose with your Lyft pickup times, the new rule will probably make you pay more attention to the clock. Otherwise, you could end up paying the price – literally – for being late.