Ride-Sharing Firm Lyft Enters Sacramento and Uber Responds
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The taxi industry is going to have to get used to it. There is more competition now in the form of Lyft, Uber, and services such as Zipcar. Although individual startups may come and go, the ride-sharing concept is here to stay.
They hit Sacramento's streets; cars adorned with large pink mustaches on the bumper, piloted by drivers who will give you a welcome fist-bump and -- for a "donation" -- take you where you want to go.
The mustachioed vehicles are affiliated with Lyft, a company that likens its service to getting a ride from a buddy. Lyft launched in Sacramento Friday, becoming the second ride service to enter the local market in the past year.
Both Lyft and its rival, Uber, allow customers to use a smartphone app to connect with drivers offering rides in their private cars. In a sign of competition to come, Uber announced this week that it will offer free rides on some vehicles today through the weekend.
Lyft, Uber and similar app-based ride services have popped up in dozens of cities nationally over the last year, often appealing to younger urban dwellers who like to do business by smartphone and are less inclined to own cars or take their cars on short trips.
It's all part of what's becoming known as the growing "sharing economy," where people link up to share their homes, cars or other items for mutual benefit. Lyft and Uber are both based in San Francisco, which also gave birth to such firms as Airbnb, which allows people to rent out their houses, spare rooms or even couches to paying guests.
"This technology-enabled sharing is just taking off," said Stuart Cohen, head of TransForm, a Northern California alternative transpo
