USM students now have the option to choose between Lyft and Uber when they need a ride around Hattiesburg. Lyft began connecting students with rides last Thursday.

While some students said they enjoy a new mobility option, others want to stay with Uber because of their familiarity with it.

Nadjah McLaurin, a senior therapeutic recreation major, said she is excited to have Lyft come to Hattiesburg. She said Lyft is convenient because Hattiesburg is a college town and not many people have cars.

“They need to get to places, but don’t want to ask their friends for rides,” McLaurin said.

Gabby Chamoun, a senior therapeutic recreations major, said she uses Uber so she does not have to wait for her friends to go to the store.

“They’re only convenient if you know that you need to go somewhere beforehand, because otherwise you sometimes end up waiting 15 to 20 minutes for a ride,” Chamoun said.

Chamoun said she thinks both services are safe, but she still finds a stranger driving her around “weird.”

“I’m gonna make the switch to whoever is cheaper,” Chamoun said. “I don’t like using [transportation services] that much because strangers driving me around still freaks me out.”

Chamoun said she used both apps and figured out the price for the same trip. According to her, Lyft was cheaper, but the app was harder to use than Uber’s. She said when planning a trip using Uber, the app gives the rider a total estimate; however, Lyft gives separate estimates that riders have to add together, making the estimate total unrealistic.

Senior Antonio Jenkins said he wants to use Uber because he is already familiar with the service.

“I know how to use Uber, and I don’t think the price is going to be that much different for rides,” Jenkins said.
Junior anthropology major Michael McDonald drives for Uber and said Friday nights are the busiest because people go out after a long week of classes and work.

“I’ve only been working with Uber for a few weeks, but I like it.” McDonald said. “It’s really easy to make money by just driving people around.”

McDonald said he might switch to Lyft because the company allegedly takes a smaller cut from the money the driver makes and allows tips.

“I like the driver app better for Lyft, but the background check takes longer than Uber’s did,” McDonald said. “I think I’ll make more money with Lyft, and you can’t go wrong there.”

Lyft is available in Apple and Android appstores. New users can use the code LYFTLOVE17 to get $5 off their first ride.