Lyft drives into 24 new cities, now in 60 US markets
Ousting UberX as the ridesharing leader, Lyft currently operates in more US cities than any other peer-to-peer rides-on-demand platform. To celebrate, it's slashing prices.
Lyft is celebrating the number 24. On Thursday, April 24, the ridesharing service is launching in 24 new cities in 24 hours.
This means Lyft is now operating in 60 cities across the US, including Ann Arbor, Colorado Springs, Jacksonville, Lexington, Omaha, Rochester, Spokane, and many more places.
"As we've grown, we have recognized a need for reliable transportation options everywhere, in cities of all sizes, regardless of the level of car ownership," the company wrote in a blog post Thursday. "From Albuquerque to Newark and beyond, these cities have strong community roots and local hometown pride that make them all great fits for Lyft."
The company has expanded at a fast clip since it launched in 2012. In the beginning of 2013, it operated solely in San Francisco; by the start of 2014, Lyft was in 20 cities, and earlier this year it raised that number to 36 cities.
The company's top competitor -- Uber -- operates its car service in 35 countries and 100 cities, but Uber's peer-to-peer UberX ridesharing component is just in 47 cities. This means that even though Lyft has a ways to go to catch up with Uber's international reach, it's now the leader of the peer-to-peer ridesharing world.
Lyft appears to be looking to boost competition even more. With its announcement of 24 new cities, it's also offering all people in those cities free rides to various local shows, parties, and promotions for two weeks. The company has dubbed this event "Lyftapalooza." It's additionally dropping ride prices by 10 percent in all cities during the next couple of months.