Lyft is expanding the availability of plastic partitions in its drivers’ vehicles to reduce the risk … [+]
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Similar shields have been found in many big city taxis for decades.
Earlier this month, drivers in Lyft’s Express Drive rental program in Atlanta, Baltimore and Denver began installing the partitions.
Feedback from drivers and passengers was positive enough. Now Lyft is making them available to drivers in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Phoenix, Dallas and New York City.
In June, Lyft began requiring drivers and passengers to wear face masks and to not drive or ride if they feel sick. That was part of a broader program that also requires drivers and riders to certify that are healthy. Lyft also distributes cleaning supplies and masks for drivers.
“Our community is counting on us to put their health and safety first,” Angie Westbrock, Lyft’s vice president of global operations said in a statement. “By prioritizing the well-being of our drivers, our entire community gains extra peace of mind. We’re setting the bar for health and safety in rideshare and will continue to expand our programs and products to continue raising that bar.”
Uber
Beyond the seven new markets, Lyft plans to offer the partitions in 30 metro areas in the next few months, with a goal of having them in 60,000 drivers’ vehicles.
Lyft said in a release that drivers can purchase the partitions through the Lyft Store, but the company said it will not make a profit on the partitions, disinfectants or other sanitizing materials it makes available to drivers.
As the country suffers through another surge of coronavirus cases, many people, especially in urban areas where car ownership is not universal, are trying to understand the risks of various transportation options.
Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease physician and biosecurity fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said recently that driving one’s personal car is the safest option, followed by riding with someone you know, so that if you were to test positive for Covid-19 you can easily identify your recent contacts.
After that, “I would say the next safest scenario would be to take a taxi, Uber or Lyft,” Kuppalli said.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the ridesharing market hard. In mid-June, CoMotion News and RideShare Mechanic released a survey of 400 rideshare drivers. More than 90% reported a decrease in income. Less than half of them had received any assistance from Congress’s CARES Act.
The number of rides plummeted 75% in April compared with the year-earlier month, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
While demand has rebounded somewhat since then, growing 26% from April to May, that level is still down more than 60% from a year earlier.
Lyft shares fell 23% in the first half of 2020 from about $43 to $33, but that reflects a rebound from a low of $16 in mid-March. Thursday, the shares were trading at $29.40.
Uber stock fell from $41.27 in mid-February to $14.82 in mid-March. But in recent days shares have recovered to just over $32, or slightly higher than the price at the beginning of the year.
