Lyft Gave 375M Rides In 2017; Expands Concierge Service

Lyft, the ride-hailing startup that is competing against Uber, announced Tuesday (Jan. 16) that it is expanding its Lyft Concierge service, which it rolled out with select partners last year, to businesses of all sizes.

In a blog post, Lyft said the service was originally introduced to help individuals get rides to important appointments, and then expanded to help businesses like JetBlue, CareMore, and GoGoGrandparent get rides for their employees and customers. Now, Lyft Concierge is being offered to all types of organizations. With the service, companies will be able to access real-time ride tracking, reduce the cost of transportation and have access to support 24 hours a day.

According to Lyft’s blog post, Concierge makes it easy for companies to offer courtesy rides to customers, clients and employees. For example, the San Diego helicopter tour company, Rotor Zen, uses the service to transport guests from hotels and vacation rentals to the departure point for their tours. Car dealerships and rental car companies are also using the service to give customers rides.

According to Lyft, 3.6 million Americans miss or postpone medical treatment due to inability to find rides to appointments. CareMore, National MedTrans Network and Denver Health Medical Center all use Concierge to give patients a reliable way to get to and from their appointments. Lyft also highlighted GoGoGrandparent, Brookdale Senior Living and Comfort Keepers as companies that use the service to aid senior citizens in remaining active and independent.

Separately, TechCrunch reported that Lyft issued a report on its economic impact last year, saying that it provided 375.5 million rides in 2017, which is up 130 percent year-over-year. The company provided rides to a total of 23 million different passengers, which is a 92 percent jump from the prior year. The company had 1.4 million drivers at the end of 2017, up 100 percent from the end of 2016.

On the car ownership front, Lyft claims that last year, close to a quarter million of its passengers made the decision to give up car ownership and use the ride-hailing service for all transport needs. Lyft also said that 50 percent of its customers reported that they drove their vehicles less often.

In terms of the busiest years for the startup, TechCrunch reported that New Year’s Eve holds the title.