The Lyft page doesn&#x27;t make it clear if the route is fixed. That&#x27;s what&#x27;s new here, otherwise Carpool would be the same as what Uber has already been running with UberPOOL.<p>In any event, all these services are converging on the same thing, a kind of replacement for public transportation on a fine-grained scale. Car pooling, fixed routes, and eventually self-driving vehicles are all table stakes for any ride-sharing operation that wants to approximate the economics of a local bus service (but with added convenience and service).