Do you use ride-sharing as your main form of transportation? You may soon be able to pay monthly for all those rides instead of paying for each of them individually. First reported by Andrew J. Hawkins at The Verge, popular ride-sharing service Lyft has apparently been testing what it calls an "all-access pass" for several months now that allows regular customers to pay for their transport like they would Netflix or Apple Music — with an upfront monthly fee.
As Hawkins notes, the subscription plan is currently invite-only, and seems to be targeted at individuals who regularly spend $450 or more a month on Lyft rides. The subscription models also seem to differ in price and organization depending on who you ask: one invite offers 60 standard rides per month for $399, one offered 30 $15-and-under rides for $199, and yet another promised Engadget seven rides per week for $49.
Uber, Lyft's most direct competitor, tested something similar back in 2016 in select cities such as Boston and Miami, but apparently it never quite took hold. However, according to Hawkins, Lyft CEO Logan Green seems particularly dedicated to the idea, saying at a press event this past Wednesday that the company is "going to move the entire industry from one based on ownership to one based on subscription."
While some people may say this is similar to a bus pass or other more affordable monthly public transit plan, that isn't true for everyone. As someone who doesn't own a car and lives in an area where public transit isn't as readily available as it is in other cities, I find the idea of a subscription plan for ride-sharing services — and furthermore, ride-sharing as a substitute for car ownership — to be an extremely intriguing option. However, it's still unclear when (or even if) it will be made widely available.
Thoughts?
Would you utilize a Lyft subscription plan? What do you think paying monthly for ride-sharing services as a concept? Share with us in the comments!
