

Lyft Is Doing 30,000 Rides A Week, Raises $60 Million From Andreessen Horowitz - kine
http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/23/lyft-a16z/

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ryanglasgow
I love Lyft and have been using the service for almost a year now, but they've
gotten greedy with their pricing model. About once a month I'll take a Lyft
home from work, and the same ride has steadily become more expensive. What
once costed $12, now costs $18, when a cab would charge $14. It's an easy way
for them to boost profits, but I think riders will catch on and look elsewhere
as cabs start to get their act together. Flywheel is an app for hailing cabs,
and you can pay through your phone just like Lyft. Cab drivers attitude has
significantly improved over the course of a year and I'm now no longer opposed
to taking one like I once was.

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johnrob
Why would they charge less than a cab? It's clear they are not a ride sharing
service, unless your $12 ride was for 50 miles ($.55/mile * 50 miles / 2
people ~= 12).

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zipppy
I'm unfamiliar with Lyft -- do Lyft drivers only pick people up on their way
somewhere? Or do they go out of their way to pick people up?

If it's the latter, then it's not really helping the environment much more
than cabs, correct? For me, that means taking a cheaper option (and supporting
someone's profession, rather than someone who's just making extra money on the
side), is better.

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postnihilism
It's the latter. Lyft and Sidecar started in SF, a city in which it is
notoriously difficult to catch a cab. The goal isn't to help the environment
but to create a marketplace to allow drivers and passengers to easily connect.
When they began they were both cheaper than cabs; from my personal experience
they now cost about the same. They do make catching a ride far easier though.

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socillion
I'm curious, is it a popular service because of a dearth of other options like
public transit (buses), or because people prefer cab-style transportation
despite the higher cost?

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potatolicious
A bit of both, but more column A than column B IMO. SF's transit is pretty
notoriously bad - dirty buses and trains, never on time, very slow, stops
(too) frequently, and there's a (probably well-founded) perception of danger
on some routes to boot.

Mass transit coverage (see: BART or MUNI light rail) is also non-existent in
the vast majority of the city, making sketchy, infrequent buses the only
alternative.

This is combined with an extremely corrupt taxicab lobby that has successfully
prevented the growth of the cab fleet despite an increasing population, making
SF a notoriously difficult city to get a cab during busy times (Thurs, Fri,
Sat nights). Taxicabs are also poorly regulated, quite often picking up a
passenger on the way to another fare and simply abandoning the request, as
well as sketchiness with accepting and processing credit cards.

SF is really the perfect storm of regulatory and governmental failure that has
allowed the rise of Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, etc.

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physcab
Whether you believe in Lyft or not, it's amazing that in just one year
transportation in SF is a solved problem. And soon it will be in many other
cities as well. I remember waiting on the phone for Yellow Cab to confirm my
taxi and it would sometimes take hours. I would have to plan my night ahead.
Now with Uber, Sidecar, Lyft, and Flywheel I can be out the door in 5 minutes.

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jonknee
Get out of the echo chamber for a bit, SF did not "solve transportation". Some
startups (of questionable legality) have allowed upper class people to more
easily move themselves around. Frequently in luxury cars. It's neat if you're
one of those people, but it didn't solve much of anything.

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physcab
You don't have to be so snarky. Of course I'm aware of issues outside of SF or
even within SF for that matter. My point is that getting around in cabs has
been made a lot easier. Sure, there are still problems with public transit and
whatnot (I ride the bus everyday) but the increased attention on lowering
costs via ride sharing is having a net positive effect.

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2pasc
I like how A16Z is so bold. $60M for a Company with that kind of revenues take
a lot of guts... and yet, if this is a winner, they are right to do it.

Congrats to Lyft- awesome service.

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nostromo
I can't wait until SF gets Car2Go. It's an amazing service that is
surprisingly cheaper than Uber, Lyft... even the bus!

The most expensive part of a cab ride is the labor. That labor is uneccesary
for people who know how to drive and haven't been drinking. Car2Go fixes that
problem handily.

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potatolicious
Parking is going to be a problem. Even with something the size of the Smart
car parking SF is going to be a gigantic pain.

I have a friend who lived in the Outer Richmond and we'd meet up from time to
time. He'd take his car because it's the Outer Richmond and transit is
basically non-existent. Conversations when we meet up would go something like:

"I'm here in front of the restaurant"

"Be there in 5. Looking for parking."

[5 minutes later]

"Hang on..."

[15 minutes later]

"Okay, got a spot. See you soon."

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nostromo
That's true. I hope cities will start to dedicate spots to shared cars at some
point. It only makes sense that a car used by many people would get some
precedent over a car that only serves one person. I can also imagine shopping
centers providing free spots to encourage foot traffic.

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jonknee
How could that be enforceable? It's one thing to police a HOV lane where you
can easily see multiple people, but parked cars have 0 people in them.

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nostromo
I'm speaking of cars that belong to a car share organization -- ZipCar,
Car2Go, CityCarShare -- which are clearly marked.

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timjahn
ZipCar already has dedicated spots in Chicago all over the place.

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weisser
This makes me wonder where Sidecar is headed. I'm in Boston so I do not get to
experience Lyft except when visiting SF twice a year. Sidecar seems to be a
much looser experience than Lyft with the drivers feeling more like the friend
of a friend that may or may not get you home alive.

That's obviously somewhat of an exaggeration but I've found the few Lyft rides
I've taken to be more "professional" than those I've done with Sidecar (and by
professional I'm referring to the way the drivers operate their vehicles).
Uber is obviously the leader in this but Lyft seems a few steps above Sidecar.

As a customer I want as many ride providers as possible to keep competition
intense. I'm very curious to see where this market goes.

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setheron
disclaimer: I have never used Lyft

I honestly do not get the appeal of Lyft. What seperates it from Sidecar
(another rideshare) or the cheaper instances of Uber (i.e. UberX and TAXI).

The whole pink mustache thing kind of turns me off as well..

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kine
Culture separates Lyft from the rest. The pink mustache to me serves two
functions: 1) it represents that culture that runs very deep and 2) it helps
you ID a Lyft car in a fun, non-threatening way.

I use Lyft quite a bit, all of the drivers are great, friendly and people I
don't mind spending 5-15 minutes with. It feels like getting into a car with a
friend and is completely safe.

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octernion
I'm the complete opposite - I find the mustache extremely gaudy and is the
main reason why I prefer Sidecar/UberX (I find the drivers with Sidecar
similarly friendly and interesting, and UberX more professional).

I guess that seems somewhat trite in retrospect, but for some reason I feel
like I'm getting in a clown car when I use Lyft.

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kine
I've heard that a few times and I totally understand how that can be the case.
For me it's dependent on where I'm going. Classy party? Uber. Friend's house
or home from work? Lyft.

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untog
Does anyone even see what car you arrive in to these things?

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kine
Usually not. I haven't been going to red carpet things lately </sarcasm>

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johnrob
Question: if lyft drivers don't have to purchase professional insurance, why
should cab companies have to do so? The insurance companies charge a lot more
when driving for hire.

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obstacle1
Technically Lyft drivers don't charge for rides. Transactions are based on
suggested "donations". So at least technically it is more like giving a friend
gas money than paying a cab driver. That is probably why they are able to
avoid professional insurance: they are not strictly offering what we know as a
taxi service.

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messick
Just wait until one of these drivers gets in an accident and kills their
passenger. The jury in a wrongful death lawsuit isn't going to buy this sort
of technically.

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matt_brushlabs
An issue with Lyft, or any ride sharing service, is that they'll need to
figure out how to operate in sprawly areas where customers are low-density. I
spoke with them last year about their options for opening up in Detroit, but
it seemed like a stretch for their ops; the only service I see really working
there is Uber.

I imagine a similar issue for Dallas, Atlanta, etc. would transpire.

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OnyeaboAduba
My first thought was 60 million is alot of money which also means their
valuation is really up there.I think alot of these sharing companies Airbnb
Lyft etc are interseting love their vibe and profit models but they are
playing in markets that are zero sum games and the old guard that they are
disrupting are going launch serious knock down drag out legal battles in the
near future.

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lowglow
I've never used lyft, but everyone I know that has tried it really loves it.
Whatever they're doing, keep doing it!

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rdl
I really hate Lyft based on the behavior of their drivers in SF; I've had them
on many separate occasions do crazy things like cut across 4 lanes to make a
turn, block driveways, etc. Things which a taxi driver doesn't do, or which
I'd call TL&C and report the cab for.

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wavefunction
Seems like a short term business, especially if self-driving car fleets take
off.

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geofflewis
If self driving cars take off, Lyft will be the computing network that manages
on-demand transportation including via self-driving cars. Not at all a short
term business.

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toomuchtodo
Pretty sure Google is going to be the system that manages self-driving cars.
No other organization has shown able to manage data at the scale they do.

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orangethirty
Whatever it may be, I'm just happy that people are being able to bring money
home by participating in this.

