Pittsburghers dole out some of the biggest tips to Lyft drivers

Pittsburghers are some of the best tippers in the country, according to data collected by Lyft.

The ride-sharing service announced this week that Lyft drivers around Pittsburgh received the seventh-highest average tips in the country.

One Pittsburgh-area Lyft driver had an extremely generous passenger who doled out a $275 tip — one of the highest given to a driver.

Lyft didn't provide more details about the $275 tip or say what the average tip is for Pittsburgh drivers.

Drivers in Westchester County, N.Y., received the highest average tips, followed by Dallas, Detroit, New York and San Jose, Calif.

Lyft drivers around the country have earned a half-billion dollars in tips since the service started. More than half of those tips were in 2017. It took four years for drivers to rack up their first $100 million in tips, but just four months to collect their last $100 million.

Since June 2017, when Lyft started suggesting higher tips for higher fares, tips have increased 8 percent, the company said.

Passengers also have tipped drivers tickets to a Jay-Z concert and Game 7 of the World Series, a snare drum, flowers, donuts, a slice of birthday cake and a special edition Olympics watch.

Lyft has offered passengers the option to tip drivers through its app from the start. It's chief competition, Uber, has not. Uber first allowed tipping through its app in June. Tipping Uber drivers came to Pittsburgh in July. By August, Uber drivers around the country had already earned $50 million in tips.

Aaron Aupperlee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at aaupperlee@tribweb.com, 412-336-8448 or via Twitter @tinynotebook.