Welcome to the first post of my ridesharing blog! This space is designed to keep track of all the interesting people I encounter while transporting random strangers around the streets of Los Angeles.
When I arrived at the ping to pick up Travis, it was in the middle of a seemingly deserted street in downtown LA sometime in the afternoon. The street was devoid of businesses or storefronts, so I was questioning whether I was in the right spot. But within a minute of my arrival, my passenger side door opened and in stepped Travis, a fit 20-something male construction worker. I hadn’t noticed the stream of construction workers pouring out of a nearby construction site on the corner. I guess there were businesses here after all.
His destination was Union Station, and from there he was taking a train to his house in Riverside. I asked him if it’s expensive taking Lyft and the train to and from work everyday. He confided, “Not really. They only charge me for the train like twice a week…”
“Umm… how do you manage that?”
“Well, the LA Metro app is so efficient, if I see the person coming around to check passenger tickets, I can buy one before they get to me. It remembers your favorite destination address, so I can quickly swipe and purchase a ticket just like that.”
And we wonder why nobody uses mass transit in Los Angeles… or maybe they do, but we don’t know about it. Thanks for the lifehack Travis!
Do you even Lyft, bro? 