Popular rideshare company Lyft has scrapped a test feature that let some drivers see how often passengers tip before accepting a ride.
“While this experiment showed early signs of improving the marketplace and helping riders to get to where they need to go on time, we heard our customers and cancelled the experiment,” a Lyft spokesperson told The Hill’s sister station NewsNation in an email Thursday.
The decision comes after screenshots of the feature drew criticism on social media, with some vowing to stop using the popular rideshare service.
“Guess Lyft is trying hard to lose business,” one Reddit user wrote.
Another added: “Done with lyft i guess.”
Typically, rideshare drivers decide whether to accept a trip based on limited information such as the fare amount, distance and rider rating.
However, Lyft recently began testing a feature that showed some drivers how frequently riders tip and whether they’re generally ready at pickup — information that could influence whether a driver accepts a ride.
A screenshot of the feature shared in a Lyft drivers subreddit read, “Rider tipped on 88% of rides” and “Rider is usually ready at pickup.”
The Lyft spokesperson told NewsNation that the now-ended experiment was intended to help drivers make “more informed decisions on the rides they accept.”
While many customers were less than enthusiastic, some drivers supported the feature. One Boston-based driver called it an “absolute game changer” on social platform X.
The short-lived test came amid rising tipping fatigue, with more people frustrated by how pervasive gratuity requests have become.
A recent Bankrate survey found that 41 percent of Americans think the tipping culture has gotten out of control — up 6 percentage points from 2024.
Still, 43 percent of respondents said they always tip taxi and rideshare drivers, though that share drops to 23 percent among Gen Z riders.
Lyft did not say how long the experiment lasted or how many drivers were part of the test.
