Lyft gets a lift from Uber’s woes

SAN FRANCISCO — Uber’s upheaval has helped propel its underdog rival, Lyft. The smaller ride-hailing company has surged by several measures, including market share, number of rides and ride revenue, according to reviews of U.S. credit-card data from Second Measure and Superfly.

“Lyft is currently gaining market share faster than they ever have,” said Ben Horowitz, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz who sits on Lyft’s board. The venture firm led a $60 million investment in the company in 2013, and despite selling some of its shares last year, remains a major backer.

During Uber’s recent months of scandals, a #DeleteUber campaign and corporate turmoil that led to the ousting of Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick, Lyft’s growth accelerated, he said. Speeding things up: Lyft has expanded into more than 150 new markets nationwide this year.

Now Lyft has looked at more ways to capitalize on the situation, seeking to raise awareness of its brand.

“A very unusual opportunity appeared out of nowhere because Uber is … a significantly weaker competitor than they’ve been in the past,” Horowitz said. “That does create the opportunity to grow even faster … and gain market share in a way we couldn’t before.”

Outside analysis shows a strong trajectory. Lyft’s share of the U.S. ride-hailing market grew from 12.4 percent in January 2016 to 21.7 percent in June, according to Second Measure. (UberEats, Uber’s food-delivery service is included in its numbers, exaggerating Uber’s market share for rides.) By Superfly’s numbers, Lyft’s U.S. market share went from 20 percent in January 2016 to 31 percent in June. Lyft said it has 30 percent of the U.S. ridehailing market.

Even more striking, Second Measure shows that Lyft made significant gains in each of the country’s two dozen largest cities over the past 12 months. In Atlanta, for instance, Lyft almost doubled its share, going from 10.8 percent last May to just shy of 20 percent this May.

Its strongest market is Portland, Ore., where the year saw a 30.1 percent share turn into 46.8 percent according to Second Measure. The next strongest are San Francisco (38.3 percent), Denver (34.4 percent), and Seattle (30.5 percent). Lyft says it has over 40 percent share in several U.S. markets, but declined to name them.

“Lyft now in many places in the U.S. can be quite competitive in user experience,” said Jan Dawson, an industry analyst with Jack Daw Research. Lyft said its prices are on par with Uber’s and its average wait time nationwide is three minutes. That’s a significant marker, as consumers are known to switch to whichever service will get them a ride faster.

Even without Uber’s turmoil, Lyft would have had a growth spurt this year because it introduced its service in about 160 new cities, entering smaller towns such as Springfield, Mo.; Jacksonville, N.C.; Dover, Del.; Erie, Pa., and the California towns of Redding, San Luis Obispo, Merced, Chico and Yuba City.