Lyft or Uber, I say Lyft ( a driver and passenger perspective)

Imagine that there are two equally competent companies. However, one treated its employees fairly and the other didn’t. One treated communities fairly and the other didn’t. Which one would you give your money to? What would you think about the people who chose to give their money to the company that was ethically and morally bad for others?

Having been a driver for both, Uber and Lyft, I can tell you that I prefer to drive and use Lyft because the company and the riders are just better.

I first began driving Uber in 2014. I was deep in debt, the process of getting an ok was quick and easy and I began making money fairly quickly. I felt lucky (and I am) that there was something like a car sharing service and that I purchased a new car in 2010 that allowed me to earn money quickly and easily. Once I passed the simple test, I went to drive. My first pick up was a quiet guy with a DUI who didn’t speak or look at me. It was awkward to say the least but the rides that followed didn’t get much better. If it was a couple on a date going to a charity event in La Jolla (which my friends and I ended up crashing) or an executive who spoke of deals on his phone as if I was not there or too low on the totem pole to understand what he is talking about. Then there were frat guys speaking down to me even though I’m 10 years older than they are and many other instances of people disrespecting me and my car. Speaking to multiple Uber and Lyft drivers, we’ve all determined that this is par for the course when it comes to Uber drivers. They don’t seem to understand that I’m not a chauffeur, they are in my personal car and I don’t have to do this, that I am not lower than them because in half an hour I’ll take an Uber somewhere as well. There is the upscale behavior of Uber that implies “I’m better than you” that permeates the car salon and as we learn more and more about the company from the press, the company as well. Uber made me profoundly sad for all the cab drivers, for how they are treated by the world.

Two years later, I was working on a start-up and needed to make cash on the side. I decided to join Lyft and I immediately saw the difference in the people I gave rides to and the company. Let’s start with the training first. Instead of impersonal test and a gross lobby meat market that resembles DMV that Uber has, with Lyft someone came to meet me and went with me on a test drive. The guy was an engineer who Lyfted in spare time and he told me how to pick up people from the airport, best things to do and not to do. He evaluated me and my driving and made me feel comfortable about not accepting rides from people who I feel might disrespect me or my car. Once I began to drive, I now had great emails showing me how I was doing, great blog entries on helping me get tips and even times I can drive better and where. The friendliness of cheerful pink made me feel better with every email. The actual app is happier and more helpful and makes for an easier time to find someone and transfers over to the Google maps and tells me a bit about every rider so that I can get the music ready for them or maybe have something to talk about.

The riders are generally friendlier, they often sit in the front (as they are encouraged to) they will look up and speak with me instead of staring into their phones and will always say thank you and wish me a great day. I feel like a human being instead of someone being judged on how I make them feel by making myself lower than they are.

It makes it easier for me to gauge who they are, feel relaxed, offer a great ride and learn something about them and teach them something about me, my life and my start-up.

Now I think what Uber does is still great. I feel that there have to be alternatives and Uber has great initiatives, like those for bringing kittens to people and walking pokemons (it’s true).

But if you’re a friendly person who likes to support companies which treat their employees and riders well, you have an alternative, so for you, I say pick Lyft. I did and now, I always do, whether I am in the driver’s or passenger’s seat.