The pink-mustachioed ride-sharing startup, Lyft, is coming to New York City Friday, with two week of promotional free rides.
Lyft ride-sharing service is expanding its operations to New York City with focus on the outer boroughs. The move comes just after Uber announced its price-cut on UberX rides in the city, heating up the competition in the ride-sharing market. Starting Friday, July 11, pink-mustachioed cars will be seen driving between Brooklyn and Queens, where the startup has decided to first offer its service.
Lyft offers peer-to-peer car-sharing service and claims to be much safer and cheaper than the yellow cabs. The company has already secured more than 500 drivers and around 75,000 people have accessed the app to get a ride in the region.
"Now, residents and visitors looking to travel in between boroughs, get a ride to the closest subway station, or head out for a night on the town can easily request a safe and friendly ride," the company wrote in an official blog post, announcing the move.
"As always, safety is our top priority and every driver has undergone a screening process that is more stringent than what's required for NYC taxis, including a strict background check, vehicle inspection and $1,000,000 insurance that provides more than three times the $300,000 minimum for taxis. These safety improvements are outlined in the comparison chart below."
Although Lyft competes directly with Uber in the city, the startup's services are entirely different. Lyft rides are done in personal cars and an app connects passengers who need a ride to a driver going in that direction. The service is available in 67 cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. The money transactions via the app.
Lyft fares cost 30 percent less than a yellow cab but its prices are comparable to Uber, which has been in operations in New York for more than three years. To kick off its new destination, Lyft is offering two weeks of free rides between the boroughs, post which it will charge a base fee of $3 per ride and $2.15 per mile or $0.40 per minute in traffic conditions. These fares match the ones offered by Uber in the city, according to TechCrunch.
