Ride sharing service Lyft testing scheduled pickups from mobile app

Uber competitor Lyft is adding a new level of convenience to catching a ride from an app on your iPhone. Starting today, Lyft is testing scheduled pickup times so you can arrange a car to pick you up before the moment you need it. Passengers will be able to set pickup times up to 24 hours ahead of time from the Lyft app.

Scheduling a ride in advance will be a benefit for anyone planning a schedule ahead of time, but the feature could also reduce situations where nearby drivers aren’t as readily available and minimize waiting times.

There’s very little downside to scheduling a pickup time in advance too. Lyft will allow passengers to cancel a scheduled pickup without penalty until 30 minutes before pickup time.

Scheduled rides will first be available to customers in San Francisco then expanded to other markets starting this summer:

While on-demand rides remain core to our platform, we’re thrilled to offer even more options to passengers – as well as another opportunity for drivers to earn. Testing for scheduled rides begins shortly in San Francisco, and we look forward to making the feature available to more passengers this summer.

Ride sharing is clearly heating up with Apple last week disclosing a $1 billion investment in China’s big player Didi Chuxing. Back in the US, Uber has been rolling out family focused featured including tracking and payment profiles.

Lyft for iPhone is available for free on the App Store.