Just last week, ride-sharing network Lyft announced that around 1 million rides a day are being completed through its mobile app. The company has become one of Uber’s biggest competitors, and while Uber reached its 1 million rides a day milestone two years ago, Lyft’s announcement showed strength in its growth and rising threat against Uber. The news is especially daunting for Uber as the ride-sharing tech company has been recently been entrenched in a workplace harassment scandal that lead to CEO Travis Kalanick taking a leave of absence from the company.
As Uber tries to fix its mistakes, Lyft has been experiencing a high growth rate that has allowed the company to look into expansions. For 48 straight months, Lyft has reported increasing ride growth. In February 2017, a 137% increase in bookings compared to February 2016 was reported. The company has since then spread throughout the United States, expanding to about 150 new cities this year alone. The success has reportedly led Lyft to seriously considering expansion into foreign markets — a feat that could put the company ahead of Uber. The company raised about $600 million back in April, most likely to help fund its expansion plans.
Lyft’s high success rate can be partially thanks to the controversies that were recently uncovered at Uber. Uber’s scandals has hurt its reputation greatly, and Lyft has been quick to pick up consumers who have decided to boycott Uber. Uber’s market share has dropped in the U.S. from 85% to 77% by June this year. Lyft has been gaining on Uber in number of app downloads.
If Lyft continues to maintain a clean reputation and avoid any possible scandals, it stands a high chance at taking over Uber’s top-ranking position in the ride-hailing industry. Uber still has a lot to do before it can consider moving forward after its recent scandals.
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