New York (CNN Business)As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout the country, Lyft says it will make vehicle partitions available to all of its drivers in the coming months.
But while some drivers will receive the partitions for free, others will have to foot the cost if they want one to help protect themselves and others from the virus while driving.In a blog post published Friday, the company said it has already started supplying the partitions to “frequent drivers,” and some drivers who are part of its Express Drive rental car program in Atlanta, Denver and Baltimore.
Now, Lyft said it will provide the partitions to select drivers in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Phoenix, Dallas and New York City.”In the next month, we will have made tens of thousands of partitions available to U.S. drivers for free, with the goal of providing 50% ride coverage in these markets,” the company said in the blog post, adding that it aims to give out partitions to 60,000 of its drivers across 30 regions.Read More
Lyft said it will give out 60,000 vehicle partitions to select drivers; others will be able to purchase the partitions.For those not in the select group of drivers, partitions are not yet available for purchase, but the company said it will have them on its new online storefront “later this summer.” Lyft told CNN Business it expects the partition to run about $50.The company’s online store has already drawn criticism for charging some drivers for PPE, such as masks, sanitizer and disinfectant.In May, Lyft said it had dedicated $2.5 million to purchasing hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer, masks, and disinfectants to distribute to drivers free of cost. Lyft said it has distributed over 150,000 free sanitizing products and masks at driver hubs to date, and that it is also providing free Safety Kits, which contain a reusable face covering, sanitizer and disinfectant, for its “most active drivers” who don’t have easy access to hubs.”Lyft does not make a profit on safety products sold through the store,” the blog read.According to Angie Westbrock, Lyft’s vice president of global operations and head of its Covid-19 Response Task Force, the partitions were designed in-house.They are just the latest effort to adapt to a new normal after ride-hail volume was heavily affected by stay-at-home orders across much of the country.
In May, Lyft said it would require drivers and riders to wear face masks or face coverings when using its platform, days after its rival Uber confirmed plans to do the same.Lyft said drivers will be able to indicate within the app that they have installed a partition, but riders are not able to select that they only wish to ride in vehicles with a partition.
Source: edition.cnn.com
