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Date: March 29, 2024

Lyft is coming forward with monthly subscription plans for its riders

In the last two years, we've witnessed a revolution that was bought by none other than the ride-sharing industry and some of the mobile apps that offer these taxi booking services are Lyft, Uber, Hailo, Sidecar, etc. Whereas Uber and Lyft are considered to be two of the biggest names in the world of on-demand ride-hailing applications. But which one is better between Lyft and Uber?

In this article, we will be comparing each and every aspect of the Uber app with the Lyft mobile application to find out which brand is leading the ride-sharing sector.

It all started when Uber decided to launch its on-demand transportation application service in the escalating mobile app market, and this was the decision that turned Uber into a multi-billion dollar brand. After sensing the shift in on-demand vehicle services, Lyft followed the suit and built a ridesharing app like Uber. Thus, entering the race of ride-sharing services and making itself a direct competitor of Uber.

According to a recent report by Statista, this graphical representation depicts the forecast of ride-sharing revenues in the top five markets worldwide including the USA, China, UK, Japan, and Germany. China and the United States are two key marketplaces for ride-sharing services, it is also estimated that by the end of 2021 the market value of taxi-booking companies will double itself.

To book a taxi from Lyft or Uber, a dilemma that is faced in our daily routine. But worry not, after digging deep and doing a ton of research we have come up with a few criteria to compare these two ride-hailing organizations, which are:

Ride Options: Uber and Lyft

Let's start by looking at the range of options that are being provided by these on-demand taxi booking mobile apps and the types of vehicles. These service options can act as dealbreakers for the majority of end-users as consumers tend to prefer a service that meets their expectations in terms of requirements from the service.

Looking at the different types of options that these taxi-booking apps offer, one can say that Uber's luxurious vehicles are great for celebrities who prefer extra high-end services. On the other hand, Lyft is a better option for people who are looking for basic and high-quality services.

Price Comparison: Lyft and Uber

People prefer ride-sharing services because they find this means of transportation more cost-efficient than other modes of transport. But what would you still travel with these services if they unexpectedly increased your ride charges?

In the above images, we have described the whole process of facing an increase in price and the reason behind it. In simple words, when the demand for rides in a particular area/location increases then there is an intentional increase in taxi fares. This step has been taken to cope with the sudden high taxi booking demand.

Once prices are increased, end-users have two options. They can either wait for prices to go down again or book a cab with a higher ride fare. Both Uber and Lyft deal differently with this situation like Uber calls it a 'Surge' while Lyft states it as a 'Prime Time'.

• Uber's Surge Pricing: During the time of high ride demand, Uber brings out a surge rate multiplier on standard fares for rides. This surge multiplier often changes on the basis of location, time duration, and distance of the destination.
• Lyft's Prime Time: In the case of Lyft, extra fee charges are included in the form of a percentage that is added to the base fare amount of the ride. Suppose that Prime Time is 50 percent higher and the ride that would cost $10 on average would reach up to $15 while facing a Prime Time scenario.

App User Experience: Uber and Lyft

The mobile applications of both Lyft and Uber offer similar user experience except for some minor differences in the user interface. The Uber app enables users to have a clearer idea of the total amount that is being charged for a particular ride. In the meanwhile, Lyft is also working hard to deliver a transparent experience to its customers.

Here is the side-by-side visual of the dashboard of the Lyft app and Uber app, there are few noticeable differences in the overview designing which is expected.

These taxi-booking applications require users to fill in their destination locations and based on that, the further process of booking a cab is initiated. As they rely on location-based information, users are required to have mandatory access to the Internet. Then, the app will calculate the fare estimation based on time and distance of the location with respect to the availability of the driver.

In Uber, a rider can get an ETA (Estimated Arrival Time) before booking a ride, but in Lyft, the rider has to first book a ride and then an ETA is provided.

Service Availability: Uber and Lyft

The whole point of on-demand ride-sharing services is to make themselves available when needed by customers. In terms of availability, Uber is the hands-down winner as it operates in more than 600 cities at a global level, this includes a majority of countries from locations like Asia, Europe, America and many more.

Whereas, Lyft started in San Francisco and made its hold in the ride-hailing market of the USA. This taxi booking service has also expanded to Canada and has plans to spread to other international locations as well. But at this point in time, it's safe to say that Uber has a higher availability rate than Lyft.

Innovation Over Time: Uber and Lyft

With new emerging technologies, there is a great scope for innovation for ride-sharing applications. Both organizations are stepping their foot into new grounds by working on new partnerships to compete with other transportation services. In the coming future, we can expect a lowering of ride fares that will ultimately make ride-sharing highly cost-effective.

The above graph showcases the one-year growth of Uber and Lyft as an on-demand taxi booking service. The amount of caliber we see in Lyft is huge and until now Lyft has only covered 0.5 percent of the total share of online transportation services. And that leaves us with a ton of undiscovered potential that Lyft consists of.

Now let's' have a look at some of the key innovations that these ride-sharing apps have launched.

For Uber:

• The option to choose between 'semi-luxury' and 'full luxury' type of vehicle and service.
• A price surging system to encourage drivers to be available during high ride demand.

For Lyft:

• The option to participate in an affordable option known as' Lyft Line. '
• An inbuilt feature for riders to tip drivers, if they are happy with their service.

Final Verdict

Today, ride-sharing has become one of the most popular sectors, and that is the reason why many well-known automakers are either partnering with taxi-booking services like Lyft and Uber or coming up with their own on-demand transportation services.

People are now starting to use ride-sharing services in their day-to-day activities like going for a gym session or for a shopping trip. Even corporate companies have initiated offering credits for ride-hailing services to their employees as an additional benefit.

After looking at the above-mentioned comparison and going through the service details of Uber and Lyft, it can be concluded that Lyft is surely giving tough competition to Uber. But because Uber has been in the ride-sharing field for much longer, Lyft might require some additional tactics to overpower this transportation service.

For instance, Lyft is in talks to release taxi-booking plans for its riders, which might also lead the brand towards the top of the ride-sharing industry.

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