Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering ride-hailing services, motorized scooters, bicycle-sharing systems, and rental cars in the United States and select cities in Canada.

[1] Lyft was launched in the summer of 2012 by computer programmers Logan Green and John Zimmer as a service of Zimride, a long-distance intercity carpooling company focused on college transport that they founded in 2007 after Green shared rides from the University of California, Santa Barbara campus to visit his girlfriend in Los Angeles and was seeking an easier way to share rides.

[12][13] Lyft acquired Motivate, a bicycle-sharing system and the operator of Capital Bikeshare and Citi Bike, in November 2018.

[18] In March 2020, Lyft acquired Halo Cars which pays drivers to display digital advertisements on their vehicles.

[19] In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Lyft laid off 982 employees and furloughed an additional 288 to reduce operating expenses.

[20] The company continued to offer scooters for rent in San Francisco, while Miami government asked Lyft to halt operations.

Most of the rental cars are owned and operated by Sixt, with 85 locations in the U.S.[22][23] In December 2020, Lyft announced plans to launch a multi-city U.S. robotaxi service with Motional.

[34] In April 2022, Lyft announced an agreement to acquire PBSC Urban Solutions, a Canadian bike-share equipment and technology supplier.

[42] In August 2024, Lyft announced it had achieved GAAP profitability for the first time in the company’s history, owing to highest-ever rider numbers and increased market share.

[43][44] Lyft classifies its drivers as independent contractors, a practice that has drawn criticism and legal challenges because it allows the company to withhold worker protections that it would have been required to provide to employees.

[53] Flywheel, the largest operator of taxis in San Francisco, sued Uber in 2016, alleging antitrust violations and predatory pricing.

[65][66] In some jurisdictions, laws were passed to guarantee drivers a minimum wage before and after expenses as well as paid time off and insurance benefits.

A lawsuit filed in California, Gill et al. v. Uber Technologies, Inc. et al., alleged that this is a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

To accept a fare, some apps require drivers to tap their phone screen, usually within 15 seconds after receiving a notification, which is illegal in some jurisdictions since it could result in distracted driving.

[88] Ridesharing vehicles in many cities routinely obstruct bicycle lanes while picking up or dropping off passengers, a practice that endangers cyclists.

In 2021, an arbitrator awarded $1.1 million to a visually impaired passenger who travels with a guide dog because she was denied rides 14 separate times.

In the study set in Los Angeles, the author had participants of different races request rides from Uber, Lyft, and taxis.

[95] The Boston study notes that, at least at the time that the study was conducted, Lyft drivers were able to see all information in a rider's profile (including their uploaded photo and name) when reviewing a ride request; on the other hand, Uber drivers were only able to see a rider's name (and not their picture) after accepting a ride request.

[94] In 2024, a study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University was published that focused on explaining why African American and White riders could experience such different cancellation rates but very similar wait times.

[111] In November 2018, Lyft settled a class action suit filed in 2014 alleging that the company had sent large numbers of unwanted commercial text messages.