You might not get hired by Lyft if ...

Becoming a Lyft driver is a pretty easy process, but there are a few things you can do to botch the process and ruin your chances of getting hired. If you’re looking to drive very soon, you don’t want to delay the process or sabotage your chances of getting hired by making an easily-avoidable mistakes.
Lyft’s website doesn’t make the driver application process 100% clear, so I can understand why some drivers take awhile to get hired.

The Lyft driver application process can be broken down to three steps

1. The online application. This is where you’ll submit your information: Name, car, location, insurance info, drivers license, etc. 

1. The Mentor Session Welcome Ride. You go on a test ride with a working Lyft driver who checks out your car and makes sure you’re not crazy. Read about the Lyft mentor session in detail. 
2. The background check and driving record check. After you complete your Mentor Session, Lyft runs these two checks and then lets you know if you’re hired or not.

You won’t make it past the Lyft driver application if… You don’t meet the requirements!

To make it past the first stage of the process, you’ll have to meet these requirements: 

• You must be at least 21 years old 
  
• You must own a 4 door car that is year 2003 or newer (2005 in some cities) 
• You must have in-state insurance with your name on the policy 
• Must have an in-state license In-state plates with a current registration (commercial plates are acceptable as well)
• Have a clean driving record and pass a background check

Lyft says: “Prove it!” You must upload documentation that proves you meet the requirements. Basically that just means snapping pictures of your drivers license, your auto insurance, your registration, and your car. After you consent to a background check, Lyft will make sure you’re not a terrible driver or a seasoned felon. 

If you're shopping around for insurance, you might be able to find a better rate with this insurance provider:

Compare.com

Note: Some insurance providers won't cover you if you say you drive for Uber or Lyft.

You need to pass the ‘Mentor Session’ to get hired

On the last page of the Lyft application, you’ll be asked to schedule a “Mentor Session” with a Lyft Mentor. Lyft Mentors are drivers who inspect your car and take you on a test ride called the Welcome Ride. When you request your Welcome Ride, you’ll receive a ride request from the mentor. You accept the request, drive to the mentor, then the mentor inspects your car using a special features of the Lyft app.

You and the Lyft Mentor will go on a brief test drive so the mentor can see if your car is up to Lyft standards (the standards aren’t super high, to be honest). 

 You won’t pass the Mentor Session if… 

• Your car is a damaged, dirty, busted, broken-down hooptie 
  
• You’ll probably fail the Welcome Ride if you didn’t bother to clean your car, or if the air conditioning doesn’t work, or if there are huge dents and dings and paint damage on your car.
• Parking lot scrapes and dings are fine, a bumper lashed onto your car with bungee cables is not fine. 
• You’re a bad driver If you don’t use your turn signals, don’t pay attention to the road, ignore road signs, etc, you’ll fail. 
• Just don’t be a bad driver and you’ll pass. 

 You or your Mentor don’t show up 

If you don’t show up to the Mentor Session, you’ll have to reschedule it. A Mentor should reach out to you to reschedule, but do your best to make it happen the first time! 

You will get hired as a Lyft driver if…

• You have all of your information in order, and you meet the requirements 
• If your car is in decent condition and you take your Lyft Mentor on a pleasant, uneventful Welcome ride 

Need help getting hired? Have questions?

If you have any questions about the hiring process, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you asap. You can contact Lyft support, but expect to wait a few days before you get a response. There’s also an active community of Lyft, Uber, and other ride sharing drivers who have vrious Facebook and twitter presences. These often have message boards and helpful forums. Once you understand all of the driver requirements you’ll need to meet and you get all of your documentation in order, getting hired by Lyft and giving your first ride can take only a few days.

Rideshare App Lyft Launches in Vegas at LAVO Casino Club at The Palazzo

Lyft CMO, Kira Wampler,
Chairman and CEO of Remark Media, Kai-Shing Tao
and Lyft co-founder and president, John Zimmer at the Lyft launch party

Lyft, an app for welcoming, affordable and memorable rides, celebrated its arrival in Las Vegas with a launch party at LAVO Casino Club at The Palazzo Las Vegas, hosted by VEGAS.com last night. Lyft co-founder and president, John Zimmer, Chief Marketing Officer, Kira Wampler and Chairman and CEO of Remark Media, Kai-Shing Tao welcomed hundreds of guests, who played table games for Lyft credits and learned first-hand from Zimmer about what bringing Lyft to Las Vegas means to the burgeoning company. The event was followed by an after-party at TAO Nightclub at The Venetian, celebrating TAO's 10th anniversary on the Strip and the arrival of Lyft. Guests sipped on signature cocktails including, the Lyftini, the Magenta Mule, and the Lyft Me Up Lemon Drop, as well as enjoyed a variety of appetizers including pork and veal meatballs and an array of flat bread pizzas while celebrating the app's Las Vegas launch.

Guests enjoying the Lyft launch party at the LAVO Casino Club
at The Palazzo Las Vegas

Lyft provides a high-quality and enjoyable experience by focusing on the community and safety. Lyft operates in 65+ cities in the U.S., including Las Vegas, with more than 100,000 drivers on its platform. Lyft is known for connecting passengers with drivers' on-demand and is one of the safest and most affordable options in Las Vegas.

Lyft was founded to reconnect people and communities through better transportation. Co-founded in June 2012 by Logan Green and John Zimmer, Lyft is the fastest growing rideshare company in the U.S. Available in 65 cities, Lyft is preferred by drivers and passengers for its safe and friendly experience, and its commitment to affecting positive change for the future of our cities. For more information, visit www.lyft.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @lyft.

Lyft Line a new shared way to ride

At the time this article was written the service is only available in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco but here's more info about it.

Lyft Launches New " Lyft Line" service. A more affordable method of leaving the car in the drive way for your daily commute. Share the ride with others going the same way, and pay up to 60% less. Lyft Line is the one line that goes everywhere, all for the cool price of your morning latte.

• Affordable Rides - No rush to get there? Share the ride and save money!
• Smartly Routed - Ride with fellow passengers headed in the same direction.
• People Powered - Meet your community, see the names/photos of fellow riders!

Here's how it works!

Open the Lyft App and select 'Line'. Tap the 'request line' button. Lyft will prompt you to enter your starting destination and then start building your line. A few minutes later, the app will match you with a ride that is about to start or is already in progress. The price of your ride is fixed up front. Even if Lyft does not find anotrher passenger, your line will still be at a discounted rate!

You'll get a text message when your line arrives. All you have to do is walk out of the door and hop in!

Download the Lyft App now for either android or IOS (Sorry Windows phone users, Lyft does not currently support your phone)

Lyft tweaks terms of service after warning

Lyft is revising its terms of service to allow users to continue to use the ridesharing service even if they opt out of receiving promotional messages. The change, implemented over the weekend, is a reaction to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warning that the company was violating robocall laws. The company now allows users to specifically opt out of receiving autodialed or prerecorded “promotional” texts and calls. “You may opt-out of receiving promotional or marketing texts or calls from Lyft at any time by texting the word END to 46080 from the mobile device receiving the messages,” according to a new paragraph added to the terms of service. Previously, if users wanted to stop receiving promotional messages, they had to unsubscribe from all messages — meaning they would no longer be able to hail rides using the service. That option is still available by sending the word “STOPALL” to 46080.

The app-based company denied that it was using promotional texts to “spam users with unwanted communications.” Lyft also provided more detailed opt-out guidelines on their FAQ page. The FCC has noted that the previous unsubscribe option was difficult to locate. The FCC bars nearly all autodialed or prerecorded calls or texts to mobile phones without consent. It also bars those same kind of telemarketing calls to landlines. In addition, it prohibits companies from requiring consent as a condition of purchasing a product or service. And companies are supposed to notify customers of their right to refuse the calls. "To protect consumers from being forced to give consent unwillingly, FCC rules forbid requiring consumers to agree to receive marketing robocalls and autodialed calls/texts as a condition of purchasing any goods, services, or property," the commission wrote in a press release publicizing its warning to Lyft and another company, First National Bank. In a message announcing its changes, Lyft pointed to Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly’s statement last week criticizing the agency’s enforcement bureau for going after the company. He said the move highlighted the commission's "complete cluelessness when it comes to the tech economy."

Lyft kicks off as the first licensed rideshare company in Nevada

The state has licensed its first ride-hailing company. San Francisco-based Lyft, the smaller of two companies applying for transportation network company status before the Nevada Transportation Authority, won approval in a unanimous vote of the three-member board on Monday. Board members spent about 90 minutes reviewing the application. Lyft rival Uber was expected to be considered for licensing later in the meeting. Lyft plans to have 2,500 cars on the road in its first two years of operation and, by regulation, must be operating by Oct. 14.

Lyft will charge a $2.40 base charge, $1.85 per mile, 30 cents per minute and a $5 cancellation fee if a customer cancels more than five minutes after first hailing a ride. There's also a $5 minimum fare. Lyft also will have a "safe rides" fee of $1.55. The company also will have "Prime Time" dynamic pricing during the city's busiest periods. That's a supply-and-demand system that encourages eligible drivers to operate when a major event is occurring and rides are needed in certain parts of town. Company executives said the higher price would be capped at three times the basic rate Lyft became the first company to be licensed, but it was Uber that paved the way for ride-hailing companies to operate legally in the state. Uber operated in Nevada for about a month in late October and November last year. There are other smaller ride-hailing companies operating across the country, but Uber and Lyft are the only ones that have expressed interest in operating within the state.

FCC scolds Lyft for forcing users to opt in to automated texts

The FCC has recently been publicizing its crusade against robo-calls, and it looks like the latest company under fire from the Commission is ride-hailing startup Lyft. In a stern order sent today, the FCC accuses Lyft of unlawfully requiring users to opt-in to automated calls and text messages, only to make opting out near-impossible.The order says that Lyft's terms of service require users to "expressly consent" to receiving automated text messages and calls, despite FCC regulations banning companies from making automated calls a requirement of service. The FCC also accuses Lyft of making instructions for opting out difficult to find. When they do, according to the Commission, opting out of texts also makes users opt out of security confirmation texts. "Accordingly, the evidence shows that Lyft's opt-out representations are illusory in nature, and Lyft effectively requires all consumers to agree to receive marketing text messages and calls on their mobile phones in order to use services," the order reads. Lyft is only the most recent company to get caught up in the FCC's crackdown on telemarketing systems. Last month, the FCC levied a nearly $3 million fine against a travel marketer for making unsolicited calls, and today the Commission similarly chastised First National Bank today for requiring customers to sign up for automated messages before using online banking or Apple Pay. Neither First National nor Lyft was fined by the FCC for the automated programs, but said suggested they would be if they don't change their ways.