Lyft Redesigns App To Encourage Carpooling and Public Transit
Who doesn’t like a good makeover?
Today Lyft rolled out a new version of its app, which is its first redesign in nearly three years. Among the changes to the app are a cleaner look to its ride options, and a re-branding of its carpool feature that will now be called Shared Rides.
Shared Rides will be more prominently featured in the app — part of the ride-hailing company’s broader mission to reduce its carbon footprint by encouraging strangers to take more trips together. After inputting a destination, riders will be asked to choose between a solo ride or a shared one, with fare estimates offered for both.
Another major part of the redesign is integrating with public transit. Now, when you enter your destination within the app, you’ll see options for taking public transport either part or all of the way there. The first two places integrated into Lyft’s options are Marin County and Santa Monica, both in California.
The new app is live for some and rolls out for everyone at the end of the month.
Starting at the end of the month, the app will have a cleaner, less cluttered look, said Katie Dill, the company’s vice president of design. With the map as the background, users will see a simple text box underneath a straightforward question: “Where are you going?”
“That change essentially provides this beneficial ripple effect for our product,” Dill said. “Because if we know where you’re going, and we can assume where you are based on GPS, we can give you answers to the questions you might have about what’s the right ride for you more quickly.”
Lyft has also made it easier to compare prices of its solo versus shared rides. The screen above, Dill said, is where Lyft has seen the five percent increase in choosing a shared ride.
The company has also done some work with the city of San Francisco to reduce congestion on some of the city’s highly trafficked streets. Near Valencia Street, for example, Lyft has created a couple of pickup and dropoff spots for passengers off to some side streets. Over the last couple of months, Lyft says it has directed over 20,000 pickups to those side streets.
