Lyft rolls out Price Lock to address app's "most hated feature," CEO says

Rideshare company Lyft on Wednesday formally announced its new Price Lock feature that lets customers avoid surge pricing on their daily commutes.

Lyft said that about 35% of its riders are commuters who aren't loyal to its platform, in part because the cost of rides has historically fluctuated so much. "A key pain point for them was a lack of price predictability and stability," Lyft said in a statement Wednesday. 

Lyft CEO John David Risher had previously called Price Lock a $2.99 monthly subscription service that caps prices on specific routes at select times, a way for riders to circumvent the app's "most hated feature." 

Price Lock effectively lets customers avoid having to pay jacked-up prices during periods of peak demand, which is the subject of many rider complaints. The new service aimed at commuters who travel by car from, say, their homes to the office at roughly the same time on a daily basis. 

"Many of you have probably experienced it at one time or another, and I'm willing to bet you didn't care for it one bit," Risher said of surge pricing during Lyft's second quarter earnings call last month. "It's probably rideshare's most hated feature," he added before noting that "thanks to an enormous effort on the part of our team, building on the great momentum we've seen with drivers, the number of rides impacted by Primetime has decreased dramatically." 

Lyft said it's making the feature available to all customers to help relieve them of persistent uncertainty around how much their daily commutes will cost. "To make your day more predictable, we're launching price lock, a new subscription that caps the price of your regular commute," said Audrey Liu, EVP of Rider Experience at Lyft. "We know reliable pricing is particularly important for commuters. They know what their ride should cost and hate it when prices change."

Ridershare's most hated feature

The number of Lyft rides subject to surge pricing has already decreased, according to the company. And in the second quarter, the surcharges on each ride declined by 25% compared with the first quarter. Risher said the change has led to more customers hailing rides with the company. Encouraged by these so-called conversations, the CEO said in August, "we are going to do something a little crazy."

While Price Lock gives regular riders more reliable pricing, it doesn't completely eliminate surge pricing, which Risher said continues to be "an important way to match supply and demand when demand spike quickly." 

"But with innovations like Price Lock, we can chip away at how often it occurs and hopefully take what I'm willing to bet is, again, rideshare's least liked, most hated feature and turn it into a reason to choose Lyft," Risher said. 

How much does it cost?

A monthly Price Lock subscription costs $2.99, and can save a rider up to $40 on commutes. 

Price Lock gives Lyft an edge over competitors, which have not yet announced ways for customers to bypass pesky surge pricing.