Lyft has partnered with Taco Bell to debut a new feature that allows passengers to tack on a trip to the pseudo-Mexican fast food restaurant. The “Taco Mode” option is clearly an effort to woo late-night riders with the munchies, but some Lyft drivers are unsurprisingly disgusted by the thought of sloppy drunks defiling their backseats with nacho cheese and mystery beef.
A redditor shared the announcement on r/uberdrivers in the post: “Every once in a while I think maybe Lyft does think about the drivers a little better than Uber. Then they pull shit like this.” The subreddit is a popular forum for drivers who use Uber, Lyft, and other ride-hailing apps. Usually the posters complain about passengers damaging their car with bodily fluids, and air grievances about the ways that Uber treats its drivers. But today, on the day Uber began announcing new driver benefits as a part of its 180-day apology tour, Lyft gave drivers a reason to get pissed at the company often hailed as being less shitty than Uber.
Here are some noteworthy criticisms that commenters posted about Taco Mode:
- I’m getting paid $2.39 for this short ride, now I have to spend 15 min in a TacoBell drive through to make my car smell like fast food. With no extra pay from Lyft. No thanks.
- Yet another reason why I don’t drive at night... Fuck the drunks puking in your car...
- The only person who can eat Taco Bell in my car is me. I only drive at night. People ask to go to the drive through. I just say no.
- “Taco bell and Lyft are two like minded companies...” [according to the press release] Like minded how? In that they are both companies trying to make money? Or in their shared goal of giving me explosive diarrhea..?
- I’m not dirtying/staining my van and making it smell like dead animals for a couple measly bucks before depreciation, risk, time and taxes. I NEVER eat or let friends eat in it myself, so I’ll be damned if some drunk dude will be!
- Would you like some mild sauce with your cleaning fee?
- If anyone is gonna get a free taco it better damn well be me.
- At least Uber gives us the option to opt out of food related rides but Lyft has taken this to a whole new low!
- I used to think Lyft was better for its drivers, but between the recent Uber changes and this, I’m finding less and less reason to turn my Lyft app on.
Lyft’s head of marketing Melissa Waters told the New York Times that drivers will have the chance to opt in to Taco Mode. The company is pilot-testing the program from July 27 to 29 and August 3 to 6, in and around Newport Beach, California. Lyft plans to introduce the service in other cities over the next few months, and then expand it nationally in 2018.
According to the announcement, Taco Mode riders will get a free Doritos Locos Taco—a crunchy, messy treat that you should never eat in a car unless you truly hate the owner.
Update 7/26 7:00pm: A Lyft spokesperson shared the following statement:
At Lyft, we take great care to ensure any in-car activation or mode is a great experience for the passenger and driver. Taco Mode celebrates something many of our passengers and drivers are already doing together—stopping at the Taco Bell drive-thru on the way home.