As part of its “180 Days of Change” campaign, Uber Technologies Inc. has introduced additional driver-centric features, which focus on providing additional flexibility to its drivers.

Following a long period of turmoil, the ride-hailing giant introduced the campaign in June to try and right some of the wrongs at the company. The first feature it introduced as part of the “180 Days of Change” campaign was tipping for drivers and Uber has enjoyed positive results in the two months since launch. “This week, we’re going to hit $50 million dollars in tips for drivers,” explained Rachel Holt, regional general manager for the U.S. and Canada at Uber.

The amount is significant in the short span of time since the feature was introduced. Ride-hailing competitor Lyft Inc. recently passed the $250 million in tips mark in June. In comparison, however, the company has had the feature since launch, but has seen significant growth in the last year with drivers receiving $50 million in tips in the last two and a half months alone.

While Uber has been facing its many struggles, including the continued hunt for a new chief executive officer following the resignation of Travis Kalanick, its rival has benefited. Although Uber continues to dominate its home market, it has seen a drop in U.S. market share from 84 percent at the beginning of this year to 77 percent at the end of May, according to data from Second Measure. In April, Lyft’s bookings accelerated by 135 percent year-over-year, according to PYMNTS.com.

Uber’s latest changes, which include additional driver destinations, trip type preferences and long trip notifications, come less than two weeks after the company introduced an in-app chat feature, allowing drivers and riders to chat with each other prior to pickup without the need to share personal phone numbers.  

Uber is only 60 days into its “180 Days of Change” campaign, so plenty of changes are still expected for drivers and riders over the next few months.

Here’s a look at Uber’s latest changes:

Additional Driver Destinations with times

Uber has increased the number of Driver Destinations per day from two to six. Driver Destinations allow drivers to set a destination, like their home, and Uber will only offer them rides on route to that specific location.

In addition, Uber now lets you schedule these Driver Destinations ahead of time and will alert you when you need to leave so you get to your location at the specified time.

These features are available now to all drivers in the U.S. and Canada, but aren’t available for UberEATS trips.

To set a Driver Destination, open the Driver app > tap the menu icon > tap the “Set a Destination” button > search and tap your location > the top of the app will turn orange to indicate you are using Destinations.

To add an arrival time for your destination, tap “Add Arrival Time” once you have set a Driver Destination > select the time you want to arrive > you will be alerted when it is time to drive to the location so that you arrive at your specified time.

Long-trip notifications

Drivers will now be alerted if a trip request is estimated to be 45 minutes or longer. The request screen will depict “Long Trip” and drivers will have the option to accept or refuse the request.

Previously, drivers were only alerted to how long a trip would take, as well as the destination, once the trip had begun. While the new long-trip notifications still won’t provide a driver with the destination before the trip starts to prevent destination discrimination, drivers will at least be able to see if it will be a long trip.  

Uber has also updated its acceptance rate policy, so while a refusal of a long trip will affect a driver’s acceptance rate, it won’t affect their account standing or Quest promotions.

This feature is available now for all drivers in the U.S. and Canada, but aren’t available for UberEATS trips.

Trip type preferences

At any time, Uber drivers can select the trip options that work for them. Based on the options that they qualify for, drivers can select to only receive requests for UberX, UberXL, UberSUV, UberBlack, UberSelect, UberPool or make deliveries with UberEats.

Drivers can select one or a combination of options by going to the menu in the Driver app > tap the gear icon > select the trip types.

The circular meter at the top of the screen above the trip options will indicate how open a driver is to new trips.

This feature is available now for all drivers and UberEats partners in the U.S. and Canada.

Check out the new flexibility features for Uber drivers in the video below:

Image: Uber