Lyft Continues Steady Rise in Popularity Among Business Travelers

While Uber's new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi does damage control following the scandal that forced a leadership change, Lyft is quietly ramping up its quest to acquire more customers across the U.S.

Lyft continues to gain ground on Uber among business travelers, according to the latest report from expense solutions provider Certify, while taxi usage and car rentals have continued to plummet.

Lyft grew from 3 percent of ground transportation expenses in the second quarter of 2017 to 11 percent in the third quarter of the year, its greatest gain in share ever. Uber, meanwhile, dropped 1 percent to 54 percent in the third quarter of 2017. Car rentals and taxi usage also dropped by 1 percent each. Certify doesn't track car service expenses in its quarterly report that looks at more than 10 million receipts and expenses submitted by business travelers using its platform.

“The latest Certify SpendSmart report shows how the business traveler is more in the driver’s seat than ever before when it comes to making purchasing decisions on the road,” said Robert Neveu, CEO of Certify. “Whether it’s a reaction to the latest headlines or the introduction of new features like tipping, the power of consumer choice has become a major factor in travel and entertainment expense spending that in many ways extends beyond the reach of the accounting department or corporate travel policy.”

There are a couple of other notable findings in the report. Tipping through the Uber app, which was introduced in recent months, has been limited among business travelers, with just 3 percent of Uber rides having a gratuity attached. The average gratituity included was just $3.10.

Certain major metro areas saw a big increase in Lyft usage among business travelers. San Francsico saw a 9 percent jump for Lyft and an 8 percent decrease for Uber. Lyft's share in Boston and Dallas increased by 5 percent.