How can I avoid Lyft drivers taking me out of the way?

Post date: 2018-01-11 03:34:09

A few times recently I've noticed that my Lyft rides end up costing a lot more than the predicted price, and it seems due to them taking a long route rather than traffic. Most recently, I took a Lyft early on a Sunday morning, when there was no traffic, from a friend's apartment in Prospect Heights in Brooklyn to JFK.

I realized after a while that the driver had gone completely out of the way (instead of going east, he went south and west to Bay Ridge, then got on the highway). He was deaf, so I didn't try to ask him what was going on while we were driving, and by the time I noticed, we were already far out of the way. The ride ended up costing twice what the app predicted (~$70 vs $35) and taking longer. My best guess is that he was going through neighborhoods he was familiar with rather than following the navigation app.

How can I avoid this in the future? In another case, a driver in the Bay Area didn't take a suggested freeway because he claimed to be avoiding traffic, but Waze said that it was the best route. I just don't want to end up paying so much more than necessary.

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