Getting Picked Up: Uber, Lyft and Passenger Safety.

Is it time for Lyft to recalculate its route?

Remember the Avis commercials that boasted, “We’re number two, we try harder”? That tagline would become a rallying cry for employees and customers alike to push Hertz out of the top spot.

Fast forward several decades, and several transportation options later, and it’s clear that the second entry into the rideshare marketplace, Lyft, could learn a thing or two from history.

Lyft has been all over the news recently for its perceived failure to keep female riders safe from drivers who have made sexually inappropriate comments and advances. In one incident reported to The Post, a woman jumped out of a car when the driver veered off course and wouldn’t stop. Lyft banned the driver but, believe it or not, the customer was still charged for the ride.

This kind of thing isn’t supposed to happen at Lyft. In fact, their carefully crafted brand image, pink and all, was designed to convey a safer more caring rideshare experience. But their response to these situations has by their own admission, fallen short. Many women have found Lyft’s lack of response so frustrating that they have taken to Twitter. The company remains dedicated to its mantra of “Safety is fundamental to Lyft”, but does it have the training, infrastructure and discipline to follow through on its promises?

The news reports, coupled with the company’s failure to respond in a more effective, empathetic way may just leave Lyft branded as a hypocrite, not the progressive, community-oriented organization that they have tried to convey.

Earlier this week, while Lyft was hitting PR potholes, Uber issued a “Looking out for your safety when you ride” email to it’s riders, highlighting the ability to call “911 right from the app” and several other safety features that it implemented last year. Uber has also already released its transparency report that reflects communication with law enforcement agencies regarding passenger and driver safety incidents. Notably, Lyft has not. Nor has their own promised 911 feature materialized.

After a corporate near death experience, Uber is now starting to get it right.

Under the leadership of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the company is making strides to create a better work environment for its employees and drivers and a safer more satisfying experience for its riders. Although they may still have a long way to go, they have a respectable start leaving Lyft, by many accounts, in the rearview mirror.

This transformation is no accident. In 2017, the company suffered from a series of problems that could have spelled disaster. The then-CEO, Travis Kalanick, who infamously fostered a frat house atmosphere, was caught on video arguing with a driver over falling fares. The company was sued by Waymo (a division of Google, no less) for stealing trade secrets. And a highly regarded Uber engineer published a blog post detailing allegations of harassment and discrimination.

In response, the Uber board took decisive action by firing Kalanick and enlisting a former US Attorney General to conduct a review to make recommendations to improve the company’s management and culture. They hired a new CEO to rebuild Uber’s corporate ethos and steer the company out of the ditch. And they have begun recasting the image of the company among passengers, drivers and employees with a compelling “Opening Doors” ad campaign.

At J. Wilson, we counsel clients that the first — and most important — step in getting out of a corporate crisis is to address the underlying problem.

Khosrowshahi gets the mess he was hired to clean up. In January, he told Bloomberg Businessweek “We don’t have a PR problem; we have an ‘us’ problem — we have behaved poorly.”

Amen.

And the new CEO didn’t simply wax over the issues. He has made substantive changes for riders and employees alike.

What is so mystifying about Lyft’s recent problems is that they had the opportunity to learn from Uber’s mistakes and take the lead in a multi-billion dollar industry. Instead, they are now trailing behind in rolling out safety features, handling complaints, and living up to their brand promise.

For the time being, those of us along for the ride get to witness how the critical tenets of accountability, empathy, and a relentless commitment to excellence give Uber some momentary bragging rights … “We are number one, and we will always try harder.”

Pamela J. Holland is a partner at J. Wilson Advisors, a reputation, brand and crisis communications firm.