Software Development

Use this web app to calculate your Lyft fare

Elliott Plack, who designed the fare calculator and is a Lyft driver, says it “uses a formula based on observations and is not official.”

Lyft. (Photo by Flickr user Alfredo Mendez, used under a Creative Commons license)

This fare calculator designed by GIS developer Elliott Plack will estimate a rider’s total fare using the ridesharing startup Lyft, which began operating in Baltimore city on Oct. 17.
Plack, who is a Lyft driver, says the calculator “uses a formula based on observations and is not official.”
Find the fare calculator here. (Update: The web app has been deleted. Try the mobile app MyFare here. Or read Technical.ly’s ongoing coverage of Lyft here.)
Unlike drivers for competing ridesharing startup Uber, which culls its drivers from the existing pool of licensed limo company drivers, Lyft’s drivers are everyday people, and riders in Baltimore city who use Lyft pay their drivers a “suggested donation” through their smartphones. (In California, the home of the startup, Lyft is now shifting away from its suggested-donation model to a fixed pricing system.)
In Baltimore city, Lyft and Uber have been the subjects of scrutiny by the Maryland Public Service Commission over whether the startups are legal businesses or are operating as unregulated taxi companies.

Update: The calculator has been taken down. Per creator Elliott Plack's comment at the bottom of this post: "Lyft asked me to take down the website because it might have confused people, though they admired the creativity and idea." (12/19/13, 9:53 a.m.)
Companies: Lyft / Maryland Public Service Commission / State of Maryland / Uber

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