You Can Now Block (or Favorite) Your Lyft Driver
Here’s how I hope most Uber and Lyft rides go: I call a car, it pulls up. We say hello, arrive at our destination without incident. I say thank you, get out, and move on.
But not all rides go like that. Some exceed those expectations, and you get out of the car thinking, “Wow, they really were great.” Other times, you hope to never see that driver again. While you can always rate your drivers, meeting them in the future is a matter of chance. After all, when you call a taxi through an app, you don’t get to choose the driver, only the type of car.
That changes with Lyft . On Thursday, the company announced that riders can now favorite either the drivers they particularly like or the ones they particularly dislike. I think both are great options.
Adding a Lyft Driver to Favorites
Now, after completing a ride, you’ll see the usual pop-up window where you can rate the driver, leave a review, and leave a tip. But there’s also a new feature: at the bottom of the screen, there’s an option to “Add this driver to your favorites” with a flag and the message “We’ll prioritize your favorite drivers when planning rides.”
Check this box and Lyft will consider your favorite driver. This doesn’t mean you can personally call that driver every time you request a ride; Lyft will try to connect you with them when possible. According to the app, this only applies when scheduling rides, but Lyft’s announcement says, “We’ll prioritize connecting you to your favorite drivers when possible .” Hopefully, the app will connect you when you request a ride on the go, not just when you pre-book.
Make no mistake: This feature isn’t just for you. Drivers will be notified when you — yes, you — add them to your favorites. They’ll then have “priority access” to your scheduled ride requests, and can take you on as a passenger if they want. If for some reason they forget who you are, your request will be marked as a request from a passenger who added that driver to their favorites, to distinguish it from other requests.
Blocking a Lyft Driver
So, you’ve had a particularly bad experience with Lyft. Now, in addition to rating that driver one star, you can block them so you never have to deal with them again.
This option won’t appear at the end of your ride. Instead, you can access it through Lyft’s new Safety Center menu. This settings page features Lyft’s latest safety features, like audio recording, PIN verification, and now the ability to block drivers.
I don’t see the Safety Center in Lyft’s settings right now. But according to Lyft, here’s how it works: In the app, tap the “You” tab, then select “Settings” under “Account .” Where I currently see “Safety Tools,” I think there will be “Safety Center.” Once you tap that, you’ll see “Block Driver” under “Matches .” Lyft doesn’t explain further, but I think you’ll be able to select from a list of recent drivers and choose which one you want to block.
Lyft doesn’t say whether drivers are notified when they get blocked, but I’m guessing they aren’t. Although if I were Lyft, I’d likely contact drivers who are getting blocked frequently.