Riding-hailing apps, Uber and Lyft, were in the news again. It’s not because of their IPOs but due to passenger safety.
Sadly, a young woman was killed after getting into a car that she might have thought was the car she ordered through the ride hailing app.
The response from Uber was not a enough, it again passed the brunt of the job on to the consumer.
Uber tweeted the below message advising it’s riders to match the license plate, car make, and model and to check the driver’s photograph before entering the vehicle.
Uber pointed to their website where they again request riders to check the license plate (source).
When you see your driver’s vehicle at your pickup location, confirm that the license plate number displayed in your app matches the actual vehicle. Drivers will often ask your name before starting the trip.
And again here with a checklist for riders to abide by.
Lyft does the same by asking customers to check the license plate number of their driver (source).
Lyft provides license plate numbers in the app for riders to match with the vehicle, photos of the driver and vehicle, and details on the vehicle’s make, model, and color.
A Better Solution
Piggybacking on an idea Jason Fried, CEO of Basecamp, shared on their company’s blog Signal vs Noise for improving the UX for Uber and Lyft. His idea was to generate a unique color combination that would display in the app for customers and on the car.
The problem he is attempting to solve was standing on a crowded street where multiple people are also waiting for their Uber and Lyft.
Adding a code to the color would improve the security and make it much harder for a non-ride hailing driver to fake.
An Uber/Lfy sticker or light is easy to fake which threatens the safety of the customers. Both Lyft and Uber are technology company so they have the brainpower to improve upon this simple idea to make it even more secure and simple for their customers.
I agree that the customer does carry responsibility for their actions but the company does as well and should optimize the experience to ensure their customers are safe.
Thoughts? Shoot me an email, I’d love to discuss.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash