An Open Letter From a Lyft Mentor:

Good Morning John and Logan!

Lyft was created as an amazing idea to fill empty seats within the cars of quality, highly vetted, friendly drivers. Through out the years as Lyft has grown, many things have changed, but until now the only thing that truly made Lyft totally unique from every other competitor, was the quality control and education that has taken place in thousands of one on one mentor sessions.

When notified of the upcoming dissolution of the Mentor Program, Two things immediately came to mind:

1. How do we now set ourselves apart as a brand that has, for years, boasted of having drivers that were not only vetted via the Gold Standards in Federal, State, and Local Background and DMV checks, but also keeping Lyft of only the highest standards that can only be maintained through the quality control that is the Mentor Program.

2. Thinking of the short film "June" which shared a story that many others have experienced first hand, Would sweet June have had the courage and tools she needed (Like hands on education of using the application, or the comfort of getting answers to her questions.) to take her first ride without the guidance of her Mentor? We know that many applicants that sign up, and are approved to drive, never take their first ride, due most likely to the stress of taking the first ride. Would we have Junes amazing story without the mentor program?

After many of us completing Thousands of rides, there has been 1 constant theme echoed from drivers and passengers alike when asked why they choose Lyft over the competition: Simply put Lyft requires all applicants to meet with someone face to face, which results in Nicer Drivers, Cleaner Cars, and a culture that places quality over quantity.

A robust system that is conducted electronically can not replace the job that thousands of Lyft Mentors do in weeding out applicants that would make our passengers feel uncomfortable, and we have seen the effects of this in the past 3 months with the Average Nashville, TN Driver rating falling from 4.91 to 4.80

We implore you to review this decision, and seek feedback not only from the Driver Community, but the people and passengers we serve, Becoming the best does not mean we have to conform to how the other guys do business.

-A Loyal Lyfter