Lyft launches surge-free, shared rides

Somewhat similar to Uber's Express Pool option, Lyft just launched Shared Saver to help people spend less money for shared rides. But what makes Lyft's option more attractive is that riders will never experience surge pricing.

"You'll lock in the lowest prices, always - even when it's busy," Lyft wrote in a blog post today.

Shared Saver rides require customers to walk to a designated pickup location, which will be a maximum of a few blocks away, to meet your driver and co-riders. Same goes for your dropoff location.

Lyft's long-term plan entails encouraging more people to take shared rides. Last June, Lyft updated its app to make shared rides much more visible. As of June 2018, 35 percent of Lyft rides were shared. Lyft's goal is to hit 50 percent shared rides by 2020, Lyft VP of Government Relations Joseph Okpaku told TechCrunch at the time.