Lyft provides some drivers with vehicle partitions for free, while others will have to pay

But while some drivers will receive the partitions for free, others will have to pay the cost if they want one to help protect themselves and others from the virus while driving.

In a blog post released Friday, the company said it has already started supplying partitions to “frequent drivers” and to some drivers who are part of its Express Drive car rental program in Atlanta, Denver and Baltimore.

Now Lyft said it will provide the partitions for selecting drivers in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Phoenix, Dallas and New York City.

“In the next month, we will have made tens of thousands of partitions available to American drivers for free, with the goal of providing 50% travel coverage in these markets,” the company said in the blog post, and He added that his goal is to partition 60,000 of his drivers in 30 regions.

For those not in the select group of drivers, the partitions are not yet available for purchase, but the company said it will have them in its new online store “later this summer.” Lyft told CNN Business that it expects the partition to run around $ 50.

The company’s online store has already received criticism for charging some drivers for EPP, such as masks, disinfectants, and disinfectants.

In May, Lyft said it had spent $ 2.5 million buying hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand sanitizer, masks and sanitizers to distribute to drivers for free. Lyft said that to date it has distributed more than 150,000 free disinfection products and masks at driver centers, and that it is also providing free safety kits, containing a reusable, disinfectant and disinfectant face cover, for its “most active drivers “not to have easy access to the centers.

“Lyft does not make a profit on security products sold in the store,” the blog reads.

According to Angie Westbrock, vice president of global operations for Lyft and head of its Covid-19 Response Task Force, the partitions were designed internally.

They are just the latest effort to adjust to a new normal after hail volume was hit hard by orders to stay home in much of the country.

In May, Lyft said it would require drivers and cyclists to wear face masks or face covers when using their platform, days after rival Uber confirmed plans to do the same.

Lyft said drivers will be able to indicate within the app that they have installed a partition, but passengers cannot select that they only want to travel in vehicles with a partition.