Skip to main content

Lyft joins Uber in allowing commuters to use pretax dollars to pay for rides

Your morning commute may not get any less stressful, but here’s hoping it gets cheaper. On Wednesday, Lyft announced a series of new partnerships that allow you to use pretax dollars in order to get you to your office on mornings when you’re just not feeling the subway, or otherwise need to catch a ride. This, the ridesharing company says, can help you save up to 40 percent on your Lyft Lines.

Thanks to a series of new partnerships with WageWorks, Zenefits, Benefit Resource, Commuter Benefit Solutions, and Navia, Lyft is offering this perk to employees across a number of different companies with different benefits providers. That said, the tax exemption only applies (for now) if you live in New York City, Boston, Seattle, or Miami.

Recommended Videos

If you are lucky enough to be a denizen of one of these cities, however, getting set up is straightforward. Simply head over to the Payment tab in the Lyft app, add your commuter benefits prepaid card as a payment method, and select Line mode when you’re requesting a ride to or from work. From there, all you need to do is set your commuter card as the payment method, and you’ll be spending pretax dollars.

Lyft actually isn’t the only transportation giant to be offering such benefits. Last summer, Uber made a similar announcement, launching a pilot program in New York City. Just a few months later in December, it expanded its offerings, and now allows commuters in Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Denver, Atlanta, Miami, the state of New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., to pay with pretax dollars as well.

So don’t sweat it if you’re running late, friends. Just hop in a Lyft (or an Uber, for what it’s worth), and carpool your way to work for cheap.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
California sues Uber, Lyft to force them to make drivers employees
Uber

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is suing Uber and Lyft over their alleged misclassification of their workers as independent contractors instead of as employees. 

Becerra filed a lawsuit against the two rideshare companies on Tuesday, saying that they violated California's new Assembly Bill 5 law that requires app-based companies to identify contractors as regular employees of the company. Under the bill, contractors are eligible for basic protections like minimum-wage requirements, health benefits, and Social Security. 

Read more
Lenovo’s affordable mobile notetaking tablet just dropped below $200
A woman pops out of a virtual Lenovo Tab K11 LTE in a promo image from Lenovo.

Even if you're only interested in affordability, there's a productivity tablet out there for you. You don't need a bulky 2-in-1 tablet and laptop hybrid, either. Sometimes it's as simple as getting a tablet with a good screen, some basic collab features (with your other devices, you'll still need to find people to collaborate with on your own), and the option for a mobile connection, all at a great price.

Today's best tablet deal brings you all of that — the Lenovo Tab K11 LTE is down to $198 after an $82 discount from its usual price of $280. Tap the button below to see the tablet up close for yourself and take advantage of the deal while it lasts, or keep reading to see our take.

Read more
Phone rescue mission ends in failure for ‘foolish’ Mount Fuji climber
Japan's Mount Fuji.

The Japanese have a famous proverb about its highest mountain. It translates roughly as, “A wise person climbs Mount Fuji once; only a fool climbs it twice.” An even bigger goofball does it twice in the space of a few days outside of the official climbing season -- the second time to retrieve a smartphone lost during the first attempt. But that's exactly what happened.

A Chinese national who recently visited the mountain clearly had no knowledge of the famous saying. Nor did he realize that scaling the 3,776-meter-high mountain at this time of year is extremely hazardous due to the harsh conditions that include snow, ice, and inclement weather.

Read more