The Lyft Company for smart transportation services, Uber's main competitor in the US, announced new features in its mobile app, to ensure that Lyft drivers are happy drivers.
The first two features center around tipping.
Lyft will be adding the option for riders to set a default tip, so they automatically give 15, 20 or 25 percent in tips when being charged for a ride.
Tips are only given by default if riders choose to opt in, the German News Agency (DPA) reported.
Another feature lets riders tip during their ride. Previously, you'd have to wait until your ride finished to tip, but if you're in a rush it's easy to forget to open the Lyft app after your trip.
At the same time, Lyft will give drivers a default rating of 5 stars if the rider does not provide a rating.
That will likely help drivers maintain higher ratings, but passengers will have to remember to rate their driver accordingly if they had issues.
Lyft will also drop drivers' single lowest rating for every 100 rides they give, and make sure low ratings due to problems out of the driver's control (like bad traffic) aren't counted. This will also help drivers keep a high average rating.
According to the CNET.com website, Lyft is updating its driver app to show bonuses and anticipated hourly demand for the week ahead.
