Lyft capitalized on a difficult year for its top rival to grow its ridership and expand brand recognition.
In 2017, Lyft completed 375.5 million rides across the United States and Toronto, a significant increase from the 162.6 million rides reported in 2016. Toronto, Lyft’s first international market, was added during that period.
The number of Lyft customers rose from 12 million in 2016 to 23 million in 2017, while the driver network doubled to approximately 1.4 million drivers. By the end of 2017, Lyft’s service reached about 95 percent of the U.S. population.
“I’ve been at Lyft five years, and every year is bigger and more exciting than the last, but 2017 really felt different,” said Woody Hartman, vice president of operations at Lyft. “It felt like the year in which the public really got to know us for our mission and our values, and that led us to bring a bunch of new passengers and drivers onto the platform and achieve the kind of growth that we did.”
Rival Uber, which has not released its full 2017 figures, faced a series of public challenges that year, including leadership changes and consumer pushback. Despite those issues, Uber remained the global market leader, reporting roughly 4 billion rides worldwide in 2017.