lift On Monday, it officially launched teenager accounts across the country to take on competitors. Uber.
CEO David Risher cited Lyft’s slow rollout of teen accounts and said the company “wanted to do it right” and differentiate itself with parent and driver communication tools.
“We’ve put a lot of thought into talking with parents and teens to come up with a product that meets what they want,” he said.
The new program matches drivers with passengers between the ages of 13 and 17 and includes safety features such as PIN verification, real-time tracking and recording. Risher said drivers who can transport teens must have high star ratings and cannot be held back by a “significant” number of passengers.
Bloomberg first reported the news that the company was working on this feature last month. Following this report, Risher confirmed on X that Lyft will launch teen accounts in hundreds of cities across the country early this year.
Lyft’s rival Uber rolled out teen accounts nationwide in May 2023. Last year, Uber announced that it had expanded its service to more than 50 countries.
In recent months, Lyft has expanded into new markets.
Last year, the company acquired European taxi app Freenow for about $200 million, acquiring a global driver service.
But Lyft also faces significant competition as ride-sharing rides become more driverless.
so far, alphabetWaymo, which launched its own teen account last summer, has led the charge in the U.S., with operations in major markets such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix.
CNBC reported in December that Waymo had taken more than 450,000 paid rides and was conducting tests in New York City with a human in the driver’s seat.
Uber has partnered with Waymo to sign a six-year robotaxis agreement. clear In July, it also founded self-driving car startup Nuro. Tesla began testing robotaxis in Austin last year and recently began testing driving without human safety monitors, CEO Elon Musk told X.
Lyft previously partnered with Mobileye and is working with Tensor Robocar. Nvidia The company also plans to roll out Waymo rides in Nashville this year.
“Our goal is to create the best possible trends for riders and, frankly, the lowest cost way to deploy AV technology on the platform,” Risher said of Lyft’s strategy.
Risher said he believes Lyft is in a “great position” to meet future demand for self-driving cars, but said implementation is in its early stages and many regulatory and technological hurdles remain.
He said it would be “pretty amazing” if autonomous driving accounted for 10% of Lyft’s business by 2030.
