Tag Archives: lyft app

RideGuru iPhone App, a Travelers Best Companion

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Want to compare the cost of taxis, limos, Uber, Lyft and others while on the go? Wish there was one app that could hail any taxi or rideshare for you? Check out the new RideGuru iPhone app, the search engine for all rideshares.

The RideGuru iPhone and iPad application compares rideshare and taxi rates across hundreds of services (Uber, Lyft, Ola, Didi Kauidi, Fasten, traditional taxis, limo networks, etc) in thousands of cities worldwide to bring you the best deals no matter where you are traveling.

Not only does RideGuru save you money, it also saves travelers time by allowing users to quickly filter their results to find a car that fits their specifications. Once the perfect ride has been found, simply hail or dispatch your desired ride straight from the RideGuru app.

According to the Press Release released today, “RideGuru is known to be the most robust rideshare comparison tool in the world. Through its vast support of all rideshare, taxi, and limo companies worldwide, users will feel secure in finding a local ride even if their destination is off the beaten track.”

If you plan on using rideshares or taxis during your upcoming travels, download RideGuru and travel with confidence!

To learn more about the RideGuru mobile app click here.

To view the Press Release please click here.

 

To view a Text Only Press Release please see below.

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Rideshare Aggregator, RideGuru, Now Available on App Store

Boston, MA, August 22, 2017

Calling all travelers!  This innovative rideshare search engine saves you time, money, and energy.

RideGuru, the rideshare comparison app, is now available for iPhone and iPad users. Powered by the popular travel website, RideGuru, the RideGuru mobile app is a search engine for rideshares and other on-demand ground transportation services. Users can compare costs of various rideshares and taxi services worldwide, then hail their desired car straight from the app.

Since RideGuru’s release in September 2016, the site has stood out as the aggregator of taxis, limos, and rideshares. Not only does RideGuru compare large on-demand car services such as Uber and Lyft, it also scours rates from hundreds of smaller services to bring the user an array of travel options. Through its vast support of all rideshare, taxi, and limo companies worldwide, users will feel secure in finding a local ride even if their destination is off the beaten track.

Ippei Takahashi, the CEO/President of Unleashed, LLC, states, “Thanks to the adoption of on-demand economy, there has never been so many ride options available. There are great offerings out there, but unfortunately, the consumers are either not aware of them or lack the visibility into the services they have access to.  That’s what we are trying to fix with RideGuru: provide visibility to the users and encourage competition between the providers.”

Lillien Kenyon, the business and operations lead at RideGuru, adds “Most travelers compare the costs of airfares, hotels, and car rentals. We want to bring the same philosophy to rideshares, saving travelers both time and money.”

The RideGuru app supports more than 100 rideshare services from companies such as Uber, Lyft, Juno, Grab, Curb, Fasten, Wingz, and Zum.  Users can filter the choices, by entering number of passengers, car type, accommodations, and other specialty features, such as rideshares for women and children or “shared rides” like UberPool and Lyft Line.

Once users have made their selection, they can dispatch the ride from Uber or Lyft directly, with similar dispatch support coming soon for other rideshare companies.

RideGuru is known to be the most robust rideshare comparison tool in the world.  To learn more about RideGuru’s groundbreaking fare comparison technology visit RideGuru.

About RideGuru
RideGuru, a product of Unleashed, LLC, is an all-inclusive rideshare and taxi information source. RideGuru is not another transportation service, instead, it is a search engine to help you find the best ride from point A to point B. It scours rates from hundreds of services worldwide to bring you the best deals.

About Unleashed, LLC
Unleashed, LLC is a Boston-based technology company that specializes in creating websites and smartphone applications to provide users with the information they need for daily decisions. The company is best known for creating the popular travel site TaxiFareFinder.com. TaxiFareFinder, released in 2007, is an online resource for all things related to taxis and rideshares. TaxiFareFinder is best recognized for its groundbreaking, location based, taxi and rideshare fare calculators.

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More than One Taxi Company Shows it’s Possible to Compete with Ridesharing’s Big Two

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taxipeople-1Fast Taxi of Albany, NY has just launched a full service transportation app to compete with the outdated taxi system currently in place in Albany, a city where Uber and Lyft are still banned legally.  In just 3 weeks after launch, the company has over 40 vehicles servicing the area and is growing rapidly. Based on popular ridesharing apps, Fast Taxi has taken advantage of all the great features many consumers have become accustomed to, such as:

– Sending pickup address via gps
– Finding closest driver based on users position
– Tracking driver to your location
– Paying with credit card automatically
– Getting transparent fare estimates

You would expect the clear benefits of ridesharing technology to catch on in every city. The politics of how these companies suddenly started competing with local taxi businesses, however, is an entirely different story. One key point to mention is that most ridesharing apps provide no real form of insurance to their riders, and their drivers are not vetted up to the standard the rest of the transportation industry uses. This is where Fast Taxi, a company who intends for the inevitable ridesharing wars to arrive in Albany, has setup core principles and added new standards to put the customer first. Improvements featured in Fast Taxi and not typical of other ridesharing apps include:

– Fully insured rides
– Allowance of cash payments
– No surge fees
– Advanced bookings
– Fair, transparent pricing powered by TaxiFareFinder
– No account needed (web booking only)

The Fast Taxi App has been very well received in Albany and the company is expected to grow it’s operation throughout the entire state of New York in the coming year. You can expect the trend of taxi service styled ridesharing apps to grow rapidly for the unseen future.

Disclaimer: This post is a guest post written by Fast Taxi of Albany, NY

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Help Us to Keep Rideshares Transparent!

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With the release of our new site, RideGuru, the TaxiFareFinder/RideGuru team has become passionate about bringing transparency to the ridesharing community. Rideshares, such as Uber and Lyft, have their benefits but they also can be hampered by a lack of transparency.

Take a look at the video below to see how RideGuru is helping to bring insight into the ridesharing industry and let us know your thoughts below!

Our YouTube Channel

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When you are looking for advice or help it is always nice to have a plethora of helpful articles right at your fingertips but sometimes you may not have time to read through multiple articles, searching for the answer to your question. Our team here at TaxiFareFinder, knows how valuable your time is and while we love creating various articles to help answer any and every rideshare and taxi question imaginable we also created a YouTube channel for those seeking fast information.

We have videos on “What is Ridesharing”, “How to use our RideGuru tool”, “How to Order an Uber or Lyft “, and more! Check it out today and let us know what other videos you would like to see in the comments below!

Click Here to Visit Our YouTube Channel.

 

 

What is Lyft’s Prime Time Pricing?

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Many rideshare users may be familiar with Uber’s “Surge Pricing” but did you know that Lyft has a similar service, which they call Prime Time Pricing? 

What is Prime Time?

According to Lyft, Prime Time pricing occurs when the demand for Lyft rides is greater than the number of Lyft drivers on the road.

Why does Lyft have Prime Time? 

Similar to Uber’s surge pricing, Prime Time encourages drivers to go out and complete rides when the demand for rides is high. In order to meet the excess demand at certain busy times of the day, Prime Time serves as a way to get more Lyft drivers on the road and getting passengers where they need to go, and in return passengers are charged an additional percentage on top of the original ride price. 

How is it calculated?

At the end of your ride, Prime Time adds a pre-determined percentage of your base ride amount. This is calculated prior to the Trust and Safety fee as well as taxes and airport fees. The specific percent is calculated based on a function of supply and demand (if demand is much higher than supply, the increased percentage will reflect this).

How do you know when it’s Prime Time?

For passengers, on your initial ride request screen the Prime Time notification will appear if the pricing is in effect. It will also indicate the Prime Time percentage, and you have to accept the higher fare before requesting a Lyft ride. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is it good for Lyft drivers?

Prime Time pricing allows Lyft drivers to earn more money depending on how/when the Prime Time pricing occurs. On the Lyft App for drivers, a heat map shows that allows riders to see where the demand for rides is the highest.  As pictured below, the shaded areas display where the Prime Time is in effect for drivers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How is it different from Uber Surge Pricing?

Prime Time Pricing is very similar to Uber’s Surge Pricing, except Prime Time pricing uses a percentage, whereas Uber Surge Pricing reflects the fare increase by the amount it will be multiplied (i.e. 2X the normal fare). Another difference between the two pricing tactics is that generally, Uber tends to have higher surge rates than Lyft when it gets busy. It is also easier to avoid Prime Time than Surge Pricing because the areas where Prime Time is enacted are usually smaller than the Surge Pricing area.

For more information on Uber Surge Pricing check out our article here: http://www.taxifarefinder.co/newsroom/?p=3775

Felicia is an intern at Unleashed, LLC. She is from upstate NY, and is currently pursuing a Marketing degree at Bentley University. One day she hopes to travel the world and visit every continent.

Lyft: How to Calculate Your Fare

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Have you ever wondered how Lyft calculates their fares? Do you want to try to estimate your Lyft fare? There are a few key components that go into calculating and estimating a Lyft Fare, and we are here to explain each factor, as well as how they work together to create the Lyft pricing formula.

 

How is My Lyft Fare Calculated?

Your Lyft fare is first based on 4 main criteria:

  • Base (or initial) fare – A flat fee charged at the beginning of every ride
  • Cost per minute – How much you are charged for each minute you are inside the ride
  • Cost per mile – How much you are charged for each mile of the ride
  • Trust and Safety Fee – A flat fee to cover Lyft’s ‘operating costs’.

Here’s how Lyft uses the 4 main criteria above to calculate your fare:

Base Fare + (Cost per minute * time in ride) + (Cost per mile * ride distance) + Booking Fee = Your Fare

 

Other Key Factors in Determining Your Lyft Fare

There are a few more factors that influence your Lyft Fare that are not included in the 4 main criteria.

Tolls and Fees: Lyft requires all passengers to pay for any tunnel, bridge, or toll charges that are incurred during the course of the ride. These charges will be added to your fare total at the end of your trip.

Lyft Prime Time Pricing: Lyft Prime Time pricing is when Lyft rates increase to guarantee availability of cars. When the demand for rides cannot be met by the number of current Lyft drivers on the road, prices will increase. This, in turn, encourages more drivers to hit the road since they will make more money than usual (due to the increased Prime Time price). Lyft will always notify you before you request a ride if there is Prime Time pricing so you will never be caught off guard.

Your Lyft fare, with Prime Time pricing, is calculated by multiplying your total fare (before tolls) by the Prime Time price multiplier. For instance if the Prime Time amount is at 2x your total fare will be doubled, if the surge amount is 3x your total fare will be tripled.

Prime Time Pricing Example: If your total fare at the end of your trip is $15 and the Prime Time multiplier was 2x, your new total would be $30. Then Lyft would add on any incurred tolls.

Lyft Minimum Fare: To encourage drivers to pick up quick rides that will not yield much profit, Lyft sets a minimum fare for each service. This helps to justly reimburse drivers for short rides. If the combination of the above criteria results in your fare being lower than the minimum fare, you will be charged the minimum fare price instead. The minimum fare amount changes from city to city.

Minimum Fare Example: Say you are in a hurry and you decide to take a Lyft only two blocks down the street.  After your trip ends and you add up the four different Lyft fare factors (as shown above), you calculate that your fare should only be $2.98. But in your city, the minimum fare is $5, so you will be charged $5 instead of $2.98.

Lyft Maximum Base Fare: In some cities, there is also a maximum base amount that can be charged. This is designed for unusually long rides. The maximum base fare amount is as follows; $500 in New York City and New Jersey, $240 in Los Angeles, $200 for all other regions.

 

Lyft Fare Prices Vary Based on City & Car Service

The four main criteria factors that we outlined in section 1 (base fare, cost per minute, cost per mile, and booking fee) all vary from city-to-city, and across Lyft services (Lyft, LyftLine, and LyftPlus). To learn more about the differences between each Lyft car service visit this help page here.

Now that you understand all the factors that go into your Lyft Fare and how time-consuming it would be to calculate it on your iPhone calculator, try LyftFareFinder’s Fare Calculator! LyftFareFinder will calculate your Lyft fare using all of these factors with one easy click of a button. LyftFareFinder will even include real-time prime time pricing estimates and allows you to book your Lyft car straight through the site!

Happy Lyft-ing!

Lyft Fare Finder; Estimate & Dispatch Your Ride!

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Big News TFF Fans! We know you love having the ability to easily find your taxi estimate with TaxiFareFinder, and now you can have the same luxury for Lyft by using LyftFareFinder.com! LyftFareFinder is truly a one stop shop for everything you need to know when you travel with the friendly rideshare company, Lyft. LyftFareFinder not only will estimate your Lyft fare, it will also warn you if prime time pricing is enacted in your area! This allows our fans to find their “real-time” fare, so you can choose the best ride option available without getting surprised by the additional prime time surcharge. The best part is, once you have found an estimate you like, LyftFareFinder allows you to dispatch a car directly from the site! Check it out.

When you first visit LyftFareFinder.com, you will notice two blank fields, your “starting location” and “ending location”. This is where you will enter your Lyft trip details, keep in mind that LyftFareFinder supports every city that Lyft is available in!

Lyft Pro Tip: When you enter your starting and ending locations you can use addresses, city names, landmarks, business names, zip codes, and even coordinates (latitude and longitude).

Once you have entered your starting and ending locations, LyftFareFinder will estimate your fare for every Lyft car service (Lyft, Lyft Plus, and Lyft Line) available in your area! If your location has prime time pricing enacted, LyftFareFinder will even factor the extra surge price into your estimate.

After you have searched for your fare and found an estimate you like, simply click on the “Request Lyft” button which will open your Lyft app and allow you to dispatch a car without having to enter any additional information.

As an additional bonus, right now you can get $50 in Lyft credit simply for signing up for Lyft on LyftFareFinder.com! Have you tried LyftFareFinderyet? Let us know your thoughts below. Happy Fare Finding!

Introducing UberFareFinder, LyftFareFinder, and CurbFareFinder!

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The TaxiFareFinder team is extremely excited to announce the release of our three new rideshare based websites, UberFareFinder.com, LyftFareFinder.com, and CurbFareFinder.com. Each of these three new websites has been created with the same standards that we hold for TaxiFareFinder and have proven to give highly accurate fare estimates for the respective rideshare companies that they represent. On top of being able to give precise fare estimates that include real-time surge and prime time pricing, users are also able to hail their desired rideshare car directly from each Fare Finder website. Once a visitor finds a ride estimate he or she likes they can simply click on a “Request Service” button, where they will be taken directly to the designated rideshare companies’ website or mobile app to dispatch a car without entering any additional information!

We are thrilled to expand our technology into the rideshare space and we hope this family of Fare Finder calculators will help to bring transparency to the taxi and rideshare industry as well as help our fans to find the best deal. Try out the new Fare Finders today to learn which rideshare company is the best option for you.

To view the Press Release please click here.

 

To view a Text Only Press Release please see below.

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TAXIFAREFINDER EXTENDS FARE ESTIMATES TO UBER, LYFT, AND CURB

TaxiFareFinder.com, the leader in publishing taxi rates and information, has been a longtime favorite of travelers for their fare estimating tool. Now, the developer has extended its fare estimation to rideshare services, Uber, Lyft, and Curb. They are offered as three different websites, UberFareFinder.com, LyftFareFinder.com, and CurbFareFinder.com.

Boston, Massachusetts – March 15th, 2016 – Unleashed, LLC, the Boston based technology company best known for TaxiFareFinder.com, announced today the release of three rideshare based websites, UberFareFinder.com, LyftFareFinder.com, and CurbFareFinder.com. Each website is designed to introduce users to the respective rideshare services, rates, and fare estimates in a quick and user-friendly way.

Unleashed, LLC president Ippei Takahashi states, “With accurate fare estimates for Uber, Lyft, and Curb, our team at Unleashed hopes to bring further transparency to the travel industry.  It is our goal to equip travelers, so they can be informed, plan accordingly, and travel safely.”

The fare calculation support extends internationally and to virtually all cities Uber, Lyft, and Curb operate in. The sites are also capable of producing estimates for each companies’ different rides and services, such as varying vehicle types.

In order to get a fare estimate, users simply need to enter their “origin” and “destination” locations. The users can enter not only addresses, but also city names, landmarks, business names, zip codes, and coordinates (latitude and longitude). If the users do not have the exact location, the page can suggest locations through auto-completing fields.

For the benefit of those who immediately need a ride, the fare estimates displayed are in real-time, even taking into account Uber’s surge pricing and Lyft’s prime time rates. These warnings enable users to avoid unforeseen charges, choose the best ride option available, and be informed of the cost they will incur.

Once users have found an estimate and a service they are satisfied with, they can click on a “Request Service” button, where they will be taken directly to the designated rideshare companies’ website or mobile app to dispatch a car without entering any additional information.

The new Uber, Lyft, and Curb Fare Finder calculators will be an invaluable feature for those needing to research the cost of a trip before leaving home, or for those needing to verify their fare after the fact.

 

About Unleashed, LLC

Unleashed, LLC is a Boston based technology company that specializes in creating websites and smartphone applications to provide users with the information they need for daily decisions. The company is best known for creating the popular travel site TaxiFareFinder.com.  TaxiFareFinder, released in 2007, is an online resource for all things related to taxis and rideshares. TaxiFareFinder is best recognized for its groundbreaking, location based, taxi and rideshare fare calculators. With taxi and rideshare rates for more than 2,000 international locations, TaxiFareFinder is the proven, trusted trip companion for travelers around the world.

The Difference Between Lyft, Lyft Plus, and Lyft Line

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We receive many questions everyday about the differences between Lyft, Lyft Line, and Lyft Plus. While it is understandable that the differences between the three can be confusing, they are, in fact, all very different from one another. Each of these three Lyft services has something unique to offer in a variety of different situations. Take a look at our Lyft Services Cheat Sheet below to learn which Lyft is best for you!

 

Lyft

The lowest cost service. This is on the same level as an UberX. A request for a Lyft will send to you a regular 4-seater car. Some of the vehicles you might ride in when using Lyft are Toyota Prius, Honda CRV, Ford Escape, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Ford Escort, Nissan Altima, Honda Civic, and Mazda 3

 

 

 

Lyft Line

A carpool type ridesharing service that pairs you with other passengers who are traveling along the same route. Lyft Line drivers are the same as regular Lyft drivers but Lyft Line prices are up to 60% cheaper since you are splitting the cost of the ride with several strangers. Lyft Line is currently only available in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Some of the vehicles you might ride in when using Lyft Line are Toyota Prius, Honda CRV, Ford Escape, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Ford Escort, Nissan Altima, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Dodge Caravan, and Kia Sorrento.

 

 

Lyft Plus

The best option for larger groups wishing to travel together. A Lyft Plus car can seat 6 or more passengers. The fare prices are slightly more expensive than a regular Lyft to compensate van and SUV drivers for higher vehicle running costs. Some of the vehicles you might ride in when using Lyft Plus are Dodge Caravan, Kia Sorrento, Toyota Highlander.

Over 300 New Cities & Services Supported by TaxiFareFinder!

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As the world becomes a smaller and smaller place, our team at TaxiFareFinder strives to continually grow our site to include every corner of the world to make traveling as easy as possible for as many people as we can! Last week we added over 300 new locations and services to our site to bring our users the most comprehensive taxi and rideshare fare estimator on the web. Not only did we add new cities around the globe, but we also expanded on our rideshare services, adding more UberXL, Lyft Plus, and Uber Black estimates.

Some of the new cities we added include Troy, MI, Fall River, MA, Hoboken, NJ, Centennial, CO, Bethel Park, PA, Pawtucket, RI, Park City, UT, Concord, NC, Kaneohe, HI, Germantown, TN, Beaverton, OR, Bowling Green, OH, Everett, WA, Lafayette, IN, as well as a slew of cities in California, Florida, and Texas.

Is your city or favorite rideshare service not yet supported by TaxiFareFinder? Let us know in the below comments and we will add it to our site as soon as possible!