Hi there, I'm the Accessibility Specialist over at Lyft. Have been consulting with them since 2016.

I am biased, but I'll always take Lyft over uber any day. I cannot support uber in any way due to their horrible business practices and the way they treat their drivers.

When a driver has accepted your ride request in Lyft, there is a Contact Driver button in the interface that brings up options to call or text them. I always call them to tell them that I'm blind and will need some assistance to their car, and have a keyboard shortcut that explains the same thing when texting them if they don't answer the phone.

Working hard on remediating some current accessibility bugs in the new flow through the app, plus I always consider and add new feature requests as I hear them from the community. I've heard differing opinions on having a switch that can be toggled in the app to alert drivers that you are blind and may need some assistance, plus having a switch like that at all may violate HIPA laws, though I currently have a request in for a switch that would make the driver call you when arriving at the pickup spot to help with coordination to the car.Also have a few other features in the works that will greatly help accessibility overall and give us access to the same information and experience that sighted users get when using Lyft. :)

I use Lyft almost every day, sometimes many times a day. If Uber is substantially faster or cheaper I’ll consider it, but since Lyft was more proactive about service animal acceptance they get to have the default spot. If I’m on my own I text the driver to tell them they might need to yell at me to know where there vehicle is and, if applicable, that I have a service dog with me. It might be nice to have a flag for visually impaired riders similar to the one for hearing impaired drivers that I’ve seen in Uber a couple times, but otherwise I can’t think of too many platform-wide accommodations. Just keep working on the driver education thing, which has improved quite a bit in the last couple years.

I love Uber and Lyft for the independence they give me. I can order a car and be on my way almost imediately. That's incredible as someone who can't drive and lives in a car-dependent city.

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I'm not thrilled with either company. Uber in particular feels soulless and trashy. Their automated customer support is mind numbingly terrible. I also feel like drivers and riders are increasingly antagonistic toward each other. Drunk riders don't respect drivers and act like jerks. Drivers play games with riders (starting trips before arriving, driving in circles until the rider cancels, adding false charges, etc, etc). This cheapens the experience for everyone.

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It can be difficult to locate drivers, especially late at night or in crowded, downtown areas. Riders only have a minute or 2 to find their ride before the driver cancels or extra charges begin. I often text drivers, but many of them don't receive or read the message.

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I don't like spending a lot of money on transportation. It feels like I'm throwing away money, sort of like paying $15 or more for meal delivery. It's a lot of $$ for a fairly insignificant transaction (one ride somewhere or one meal). I used to take Uber to work every day, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was throwing away money, even though I gained time and convenience. Obviously, YMMV.

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I appreciate ride share services and don't hesitate to use them when needed. But I also try not to depend on them when I can find a reasonable alternative.

I take Uber, but thinking about hopping over to Lyft.

Anyway, when I first call the Uber, there's now an option to add a note. I'll say something like "I'm standing outside _______ with a white cane", which always helps them because they know who to look for. That way they can roll down their window (or sometimes get out of the car) and call my name so I know they're the Uber driver. Super helpful.

That's really the only thing I need to do; they've always been super helpful.

I use Uber on the daily to get me to and from work. Not for any particular reason other than it's faster than our bus system and it was here first (we have Lyft now, but haven't used them yet). Honestly, I've had very few negative experiences with them--I also don't have a guide dog, so as always, YMMV. In 99% of cases a simple text message telling the driver I'm blind and here's where I'll meet them is enough. I don't need any other assistance beyond knowing where their car is (I don't even use Uber Assist), so once we've worked that out it's almost too easy.

I do have the occasional driver that hear's I'm blind and cancels the trip, or refuses to meet me where I asked them to and expects me to find them, and in those instances I've been cancelled on, but these days it's trivial to have that charge reversed if I'm even charged in the first place.

The only actual problem I have is beyond having the time to sit down and reply to the cancelation email, there's no way to rate or comment on a cancelled trip, but really, if that's my only complaint I think I'm okay.

> How do you currently like using Uber/Lyft in general?

Love it, extremely useful for commuting.

> Is there a way to notify a driver you are blind/low-vision before they arrive? If not, would you find this helpful?

Yes, in Uber, you can either send them a message which pops up in their phone, or you can call them.

> Are there any accommodations you wish Uber/Lyft drivers could offer? Perhaps, this could help improve your overall experience using Uber or Lyft.

Not really. It's difficult finding the car in a city such as Seattle or portland, but not much to be done for that. Easiest thing is to find an open parking lot and have them meet you there, so they can pull up right to you.

I use Lyft because Uber’s business practices need work. I always text ahead to say that I’m blind and won’t be able to see their car/read the license plate and for them to call out to me or call me when they arrive. I’m not good at explaining where I am, so I find myself trusting the phone’s gps a lot. (Sometimes works, sometimes not.)

I’m legally blind and have some usable vision. Sometimes this works to my disadvantage, because if I’m having a good eye day and am not using my cane, drivers will sometimes leave before I can find them, even if I text/call.

At night especially it’s difficult, and even when I text, call, and wave my cane in the air when the app says the driver has arrived, I miss the ride because the driver doesn’t want to get out of the car or speak loudly enough that I can hear them. Sometimes they end up on the opposite side of the street and refuse to turn around and come to where I am.

I don’t think it’s appropriate for the drivers to expect someone who’s blind to cross a busy street where there’s no crosswalk when he/she/they can take two minutes to make a u-turn. It’s happened more than once.

I’ve had a lot of good experiences, most of the drivers are fine, but the bad ones tend to stand out. I’ve never had a problem getting charges reversed if he driver charged me for a ride I didn’t take.

To summarize: I like the convenience and most of the drivers are fine, but there’s the occasional one who just doesn’t get it or is an asshole. Just like life.

I've had mostly positive experiences with lyft. I use uber less but its generally ok as well. Only time I use uber is if lyft is surge pricing. Lyft drivers have generally been easier to deal with and more of them speak english, at least in my experience.

I’m legally blind and use Lyft several times a week In many parts of the country, I also use Uber on occasion. The one thing I always do is call the driver and tell them exactly where I am. I do this because sometimes I can’t exactly see what address I’m at or if I even put the address in 100% correct in the app. When I call the driver I just say this is exactly where I am, I’m wearing our caring X, and that I’m not in a hurry but I just wanted to call and make sure we were on the same page about where I was. Most drivers appreciated some say it’s better to text. I would opt in to a feature that lets drivers know that I don’t see well, I’ve also posted my picture on my profile which helps them find me. I was recently in Vancouver Canada, it’s still not legal there. What a bummer guess I’m not moving to Vancouver Canada.