Lyft is officially ending shared rides, the latest change made by the ridesharing company’s new CEO in a bid to revamp the platform to compete with Uber Technologies.
“The problem with shared trips is that they take people out of their way,” David Risher said in an interview Thursday. “At some point, you have to be careful what your customers want.”
It’s one of many product changes Risher has made since taking over as CEO in April and marks the end of a feature that has come to define the ridesharing industry. San Francisco-based Lyft was first to launch shared rides in 2014 and Uber followed later with Uber Pool.
The companies halted shared rides during the pandemic and gradually reintroduced the service in some markets last year. Uber is still moving forward with the relaunch of its ride-sharing service, now called UberX Share. “I think this is an example of two different companies looking at a problem and coming up with two different answers,” Risher said. “I think we’ve arrived at the one that customers prefer.”
Lyft is also focused on increasing airport rides, which account for about 10% of all rides, by making it easier for customers to pre-book a ride. Passengers will now have the option to hail a Lyft as they land from a flight, instead of ordering when arriving at the rideshare pickup area, Risher said at a corporate event in New York. presenting new features before the summer. travel season. Lyft also announced a new calendar integration feature that pulls flight details and sends push notifications to customers to book travel.
