Lyft today made a series of driver-related announcements as it continues to battle Uber for market share.
The San Francisco-based company, which now has more than 100,000 active drivers completing more than one million rides per week, is offering its drivers extra perks like discounted gas and access to rental vehicles.
Lyft is partnering with Hertz to let drivers rent vehicles from one of Hertz’s 3,000 U.S. locations on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The company noted that there are 60 million Americans over the age of 25 who do not own a car — with the Hertz partnership, now they have a way to drive for Lyft. This service is being piloted in Las Vegas.
Lyft is also partnering with Shell to offer cheaper gas, one of the higher expenses drivers incur while working for Lyft. Depending on how many hours a driver works for in a given week, he or she will be able to receive a discount per gallon when filling up at Lyft.
David Rust, Lyft’s head of operations strategy, said today that some drivers can expect to pay nothing at the pump if they work long enough hours during a given week. The partnership debuts in San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston, and will roll out nationally next year.
Lyft, which inked a deal with Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Kuaidi last month, also unveiled a new feature called “Express Pay,” which lets drivers withdrawal earnings immediately versus waiting for the normal weekly pay-out.
These new features follow the announcement from July when Lyft partnered with Starbucks to reward its drivers and customers in the U.S. with My Starbucks Rewards “stars” that will count toward food and beverages at Starbucks stores.
Lyft co-founder John Zimmer spoke at an event today at the company’s headquarters, noting that “we are the fastest growing ride-share company in America” and telling drivers that “we treat you better.” He also noted Lyft’s new engineering center in Seattle, its first outside the Bay Area that will house as many as 60 employees by the end of 2016.
Driver treatment has been a hot topic for both Uber and Lyft, particularly around whether or not drivers should be classified as employees that receive traditional benefits or contractors.
Uber offers somewhat similar options for its drivers, including a new car leasing program, a rewards program, and more.
In related news, today Reuters reported on a Uber data breach potentially caused by a Lyft employee.
