Lyft brings carpooling back to more US cities

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The company is returning to more US cities this month. The company struggles to rein in its spending due to an ongoing driver shortage and high gas prices.

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the ride-sharing service suspended carpooling in March 2020. After 16 months, shared rides returned to a small number of markets. It is returning to even more cities. Last fall, the ride-sharing service brought its pool service back to cities.

San Francisco, San Jose, Denver, Las Vegas, and Atlanta will see the return of the shared rides in May. Since last summer, the company has been operating its service in Philadelphia and Miami.

Changes have been made to the shared rides to make them better and more reliable. Carpooling was the cheapest option on the platform. Many drivers hated it, complaining about low customer ratings, inefficient algorithm, and roundabout directions that annoy riders despite the low fare.

Drivers will be able to opt out of shared rides without sacrificing their rating or access to the platform in the year 2022. The company says that it will make the rides more efficient and cut down on unnecessary detours by limiting each ride to two passengers.

As one of our most in-demand and affordable ride options, we look forward to gradually bringing shared rides back. We are listening to feedback along the way so we can continue to deliver the best possible service for our riders and drivers.

Drivers fled the platform, wait times increased, and the cost of rides went up, as the company struggled to recover from the COVID-19 epidemic. Some drivers are working less or not at all because of high gas prices. The company's stock price plummeted over 25 points this week because it said it would need to spend more on driver incentives.