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Lyft Carpooling Service Comes to New York City Same Day Uber Launches Theirs

San Francisco-based American transportation network company Lyft has recently announced their carpooling service will be available in New York City starting December 12th. The same day, Uber also revealed their uberPOOL ride sharing service.
Lyft’s Carpooling Service Comes to New York City Same Day Uber Launches Theirs 1 photo
Photo: Edited by Autoevolution
Reports are that New York is the third market to receive Lyft Line, following San Francisco and Los Angeles. Riders will be able to select the service from the Lyft app and, assuming they will be willing to sit with strangers in another stranger’s car, residents will have the choice to get cheaper rides in the city’s five boroughs.

According to the company, passengers could save up to 60 percent on their fare, while the driver could make more money since they're receiving additional fares (and the normal tips) along the same route. Any customers that selects Lyft Line will get their discount, no matter if the driver will pick up another person or not.

We’re obviously looking at two competitors, so it was only natural for Uber to step in. And they did, almost instantly. Called uberPOOL, the ride sharing service was launched today and basically offers the same service. “We’ll connect you with people riding along a similar route to get you to your destination quickly, at a price the fraction of a New York City taxi”, the company is claiming in a statement.

Lyft might not be as big as its fellow competitor, but they’re getting there. Lyft currently operates in around 65 US cities, with plans to expand both domestically and internationally. As of August 2014, Lyft had raised $332.5 million from companies including Coatue Management, Alibaba, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund and others.

Since we believe competition is the the best way for these services to become reliable, we can only salute how both companies struggle to be first at ride sharing services.
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