Lucky us! San Francisco is once again the testing ground for tech giants to try out new products and services. Ride-sharing app Lyft is now allowing local riders to book a trip up to 24 hours in advance. Companies like Uber and Lyft have long left pre-booked rides to car services and airport shuttles, but Lyft is switching strategy—at least here in SF.
As of this week, riders who wish to book a Lyft in advance simply click a clock icon when booking their ride. Need to cancel? No prob, as long as it's done within 30 minutes of the scheduled pick-up. Lyft comes pretty fast as it is; presumably this feature would be utilized in the event of a super-important flight or cross-town meeting at peak ride-request time. Says Lyft on their blog, "While on-demand rides remain core to our platform, we’re thrilled to offer even more options to passengers—as well as another opportunity for drivers to earn."
Lyft hopes to offer the advanced scheduling option in other cities sometime this summer. Take that, Uber.