# Why Lyft is Still Losing to Uber



## Maven (Feb 9, 2017)

Despite favorable conditions, Lyft's progress catching up to Uber has been much slower than it should be. Lyft has made a lot of progress capturing market share from Uber over the last year, but that is more because of Uber scandals and stumbles than because of Lyft's virtues. Why is that? Here are a few reasons.

*Drivers*

Lyft is not more friendly to drivers, despite an excellent marketing campaign. Lyft pays roughly the same as Uber in most markets and does not provide drivers superior benefits.

Lyft has just lost in-App tipping, as one of the few ways Lyft was actually better to drivers, since tipping was recently introduced by Uber.
Lyft's insurance while online is far inferior to what is offered by Uber. In particular, Lyft has a $2500 deductible during phases 2&3 compared to $1000 for Uber.
Lyft has a very low rate of paying out new driver promotions. This gives new drivers that are recruited a very poor initial opinion of Lyft. Most new driver incentives required 100 trips within 30 days, which is difficult to impossible for most new drivers in most new markets. Lyft rarely offers partial compensation for what new drivers do accomplish in their first month.
Lyft has no equivalent to Uber's nationwide network of "Greenlight Hubs" that allows drivers to meet company representatives in-person.
In most areas, for most of the time, Lyft's boosts and promotions are not as intense or have shorter duration than those offered by Uber.
In many newer, suburban markets, the average distance to a pickup is significantly greater than Uber's. These are often not accepted by drivers because they are less profitable on average and Lyft does not offer any additional incentive for accepting long distance requests.
*Passengers*

Lyft is not more friendly to passengers, despite an excellent marketing campaign. Lyft does not offer any unique benefits compared to Uber in most markets.
On average, passengers have to wait longer for a Lyft driver to arrive than an Uber driver because there are fewer Lyft drivers in most areas.
On average, Lyft matches Uber's rate structures. So there is rarely a financial incentive for passengers to prefer Lyft.
In those cases where Lyft's costs are significantly lower than Uber's (example: no surcharge for entering the city), the drivers are also paid less than driving the same route for Uber. This is a disincentive for drivers to accept these runs.

Uber has a superior and more aggressive methodology for opening a new market. They devote more resources, both money and personnel, have more publicity, offer more incentives and bonuses.
Some passengers prefer Lyft because of a bad experience with an Uber driver until they discover that in many markets most Lyft drivers also work for Uber.
*Ways Lyft is Consistently Better:*

Fewer scandals and negative publicity compared to Uber. Partially due to the fact that Lyft is a much smaller operation (about a tenth Uber's size) and therefore a much smaller target. Of course, that may change now that TK is gone.
Uber has ongoing instability with senior executives, staff unhappiness and driver retention. This instability and Uber's other troubles will take some time to resolve, even if Uber is successful.
Many people tend to favor the "feisty underdog", Lyft.
Lyft pays return tolls to drivers without a passenger, which Uber does not, but requires emailed proof. This may be less than a surcharge offered by Uber for the same route.

Smart passengers run both Apps and will request Lyft when Uber's surge is high. Of course, drivers, who also run both Apps, notice that too and will often ignore Lyft requests, waiting for a better Uber surge request.
Lyft excels at taking advantage of Uber's troubles among investors that are increasingly nervous about Uber.
Lyft has made (Waymo) or is considering significant partnerships that may strengthen its position.
*Please reply with what you think that I got wrong or omitted.*


----------



## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Visual aid.
To the left is " Uber".
To the right is" Lyft".

Miles driven by Uber can run circles around Lyft.


----------



## Maven (Feb 9, 2017)

tohunt4me said:


> Visual aid. To the left is " Uber". To the right is" Lyft". Miles driven by Uber can run circles around Lyft.


Humorous, but I do not think it is a valid comparison. Jupiter has more that 317 times the mass of Earth. Uber is roughly 10 times the size of Lyft, which has made significant gains over the last year, and is still gaining. As far as I know, Earth has not been getting bigger relative to Jupiter. 
____________

Forbes Jan 5, 2017
*Lyft Rides Tripled in 2016, But Remains Far Behind Uber*

One year ago, Lyft brought in $1 billion in new investment from the likes of General Motors. The money was supposed to help Lyft ramp up its growth and compete with Uber--and it appears to have done just that.

On Thursday, Lyft announced a triumphant ride growth rate, tripling completed rides from 2015 to 2016. Lyft totaled 162.6 million rides in the United States, its only market of operation, compared with 53.3 million in 2015, 18.1 million in 2014, and just 2.7 million in 2013.










Despite that growth, Lyft remains a distant second place to Uber. In the month of December, Uber completed 78 million rides in the U.S. compared with Lyft's 18.7 million. That means Uber is more than four times bigger than Lyft in each company's home market. Abroad, Uber has tens of millions of more rides. FORBES estimates Uber completed more rides globally in the first two months of 2016 than Lyft did all year.

Still, Lyft's growth is impressive, even if it doesn't directly correspond to revenue or profit given the subsidies provided to drivers and riders to entice them to use the service. The company was reportedly shopping itself around to potential acquirers last year.

"2016 was a breakout year for Lyft with accelerating growth and a clear path to profitability," Lyft cofounder and President John Zimmer said in a statement.


----------



## JJS (Jan 5, 2016)

Their pricing model is the main problem. So long as they include public transportation in their pricing they will never be successful. You can not compete with a service that is subsidized by the government by 90%. You can not undercut the government.


----------



## Chauffeur_James (Dec 12, 2014)

Maven said:


> Despite favorable conditions, Lyft's progress catching up to Uber has been much slower than it should be. Lyft has made a lot of progress capturing market share from Uber over the last year, but that is more because of Uber scandals and stumbles than because of Lyft's virtues. Why is that? Here are a few reasons.
> 
> *Drivers*
> 
> ...


Someone just told me that Lyft does not take their fee for the prime time portion of a ride. If true that would be a huge advantage over Uber.

But Lyfts app sucks on the driver side. Trying to figure out your "actual" earnings from a ride takes like 5 menu steps. Which is seriously stupid for an app to use while driving.

And trying to dispute a ride, Lyft wants to know rider name, pickup and drop off location even though you can select the trip in the help menu


----------



## mjyousse (Dec 7, 2016)

Chauffeur_James said:


> Someone just told me that Lyft does not take their fee for the prime time portion of a ride. If true that would be a huge advantage over Uber.
> 
> But Lyfts app sucks on the driver side. Trying to figure out your "actual" earnings from a ride takes like 5 menu steps. Which is seriously stupid for an app to use while driving.
> 
> And trying to dispute a ride, Lyft wants to know rider name, pickup and drop off location even though you can select the trip in the help menu


That isn't correct. They do take prime time portion. Check it out in the details. What they don't take is any bridge tolls, and Uber does the same. Lyft app SUCKS!!!


----------



## KungFuPanda (Jun 27, 2017)

I seem to be getting my new driver bonus prorated per trip which I thought was a pretty great idea, it makes accepting short and line much more appealing for this 1st month.


----------



## Okphillip (Feb 6, 2017)

Lyft's Destination Filter is a joke!!! Hardly ever works and it kicks you off after a few minutes, CAUSING THE DRIVER TO REACTIVATE THE DESTINATION FILTER WHILE DRIVING 65 ON THE FREEWAY. VERY DANGEROUS! AND LYFT knows we are all doing this!

The Lyft app. is HORRIBLE compared to Uber's! 17 loading Google Chrome screens to see your earnings? S-T-U-P-I-D


----------

