Need a ride? Lyft now operating in Mansfield

MANSFIELD - When it comes to transportation locally, you can now ride a bicycle, take a bus, get a taxi or download the Lyft app on your smartphone if you need a ride.

Lyft, a 24/7, 365-day a year, on-demand transportation company, has almost 40 part-time drivers in the Mansfield area, according to Justin Smith, one of Lyft's independent, private contractors.

The 26-year-old Mansfield man said he works full-time at Warren Rupp Co. and has been a Lyft driver for more than a year now on weekends.

He's worked weekends where he made roughly $500. Of course, that is after taxes. And, Lyft takes 22 to 25 percent of each fare. Drivers are paid daily.

Smith drives a 2016 silver Chevy Cruz, which gets pretty good gas mileage.

He initially signed up to drive weekends in Columbus, mainly working in the High Street Ohio State University area, where he said there are a "ton" of Lyft drivers.

He likes the work and said all that is required is a driver's license, passing a background check and having a four-door car that is a 2002 or newer. Cars must pass an inspection.

Smith said he enjoys the work, which he said requires patience and being a good driver in heavy traffic.

He is used to providing rides to people after bars close and recently provided a lot of rides for people to and from the INKcarceration tattoo and music festival. To date, his longest rides have been to Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Lyft driver Shane Behrendsen, 21, of Mansfield, works full time at StarTek and in June began driving for Lyft after seeing people talking about the job opportunities on Facebook.

Behrendsen said he's driven people locally and so far, the longest ride a customer requested was to Willard. He sets his own hours and can work as much as he wants or as little.

He said he doesn't mind the late-night groups of people who need rides home. "And they tip really good," he said. He drives a dark green 2015 Chevy Cruz.

Each local driver described himself as "a people person."

With Lyft, when a customer needs a ride, they go to the app and the closest driver per GPS and picks them up. The app shows customers the cost before they agree to the ride and the customer pays up front with a credit or debit card.

For example, Smith said a ride from the News Journal on West Fourth Street to Planet Fitness on Lexington-Springmill Road in Ontario costs $7.15. The cost is based on a per mile fee and the cost increases if there is high demand for rides — like during INKcarceration at the Ohio State Reformatory earlier this summer, when numerous people requested a ride home at the same time.

There is a local group for Lyft on Facebook where people can join, Lyftmansfieldohio, to request a driver.

The two Lyft drivers said the job is great for someone seeking a part-time job and flexible hours.

Smith said older people also like being Lyft drivers.

The drivers said they would like to see some special programs offered locally in cooperation with Lyft, such as free rides for lower income individuals as offered by United Way in bigger cities.

Smith said Lyft has partnerships elsewhere with some cancer treatment centers for rides to and from facilities.  

lwhitmir@nncogannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir