diburning

Uber and Lyft now have another competitor... in Boston at least.

Fasten aims to be different from Lyft and Uber. Some features that are unique to Fasten is that there is never a surge or prime-time fare. Drivers get to choose which requests to accept. If there are more ride requests than drivers, then ride requesters can voluntarily pay more with a Boost (similar to Surge pricing, but the percentage is rider selected and is voluntary) to entice the driver to select that particular request over others.

All trips are logged with a map of the route and receipt, and can be deleted from the app for privacy if desired. All communication (texting and calling) are done from within the app.

In my honest opinion, the boost system is not sustainable, and can result in frustrated people trying to get a ride. Since they're new though, why not grab a free $20 credit towards your first ride and pass it along (keep the conga going) while there are more drivers than riders?

http://fasten.com/r/ER7443

And if you didn't see it in the title, Fasten is only available in Boston at the moment.

BostonFlyer1624

Use promo code FASTEN for the $20 credit

pWei

Used diburning's, here is my link:http://fasten.com/r/PO3789

Beware, looks like Uber XL like pricing beyond promos.

mikeef

Got pWei! My code is MI7848.

Between this and Bridj, we need a Boston Transports only section!

Mike

diburning

The app is actually pretty buggy on iOS. I requested a ride from my home in Brighton to North Station, was given an estimate (which was in line with what Lyft and UberX was charging), and was picked up (by a former coworker ironically!).

The ride was ~18 mins and the "meter" racked up to about $16 worth. The app could not connect while I was in the tunnel on Storrow Drive, so I quit the app, and opened it back up after we left the tunnel. When I opened the app back up, it displayed a fare of $5 since the ride was still under 20 mins. But, the meter started jumping up as the vehicle was moving.

At the end, the receipt showed that the $5 ride for being under 20 minutes was a $5 credit, and then the $16-something was covered by my $20 first ride coupon/credit. The app does not have the option to leave a tip.

Having taken a few rides on Lyft, it seems that many Lyft drivers are on board with Fasten, but are holding out from actually driving for them until the "20 minute or less rides are only $5" promotion is over as the driver is literally only paid $4 of it for the ride.

mikeef

Can't say I blame them for that. I've wondered how much of a hit the drivers take when they have all these promos, particularly at Lyft.

Mike

diburning

Lyft covers the promo so that the driver is paid as if the promo was never applied. Fasten does not.

mikeef

^

Mike