2018 in Review: Putting Our Vision Into Action
2018 was a momentous year for the Lyft community! Together we've made huge strides in creating the world that we want to live in: one that is more sustainable and one that is designed for people, not cars.
We'd like to thank our community of drivers and riders for their continued support as we revolutionize transportation, get more cars off the road, effect positive social change in our cities, and promote transportation equity through shared rides, bikeshare systems, electric scooters, and public transit partnerships.
Now let's check out Lyft's big moments in 2018!
Ride Count
We celebrated our 1 billionth ride in September 2018, doubling our ride count from 500 million in less than a year. Our platform facilitated more than 50 million rides every month!
Market Launches
We launched in 12 new cities (including our second in Canada), making Lyft available to 95% of the U.S. population and throughout Toronto and Ottawa City.
Driver Tips
We announced that drivers have earned $500 million in tips on our platform, all time. As of September 2018, that number has grown to more than $725 million.
Our vision is to create the world's best transportation and transform the cities we call home. We want to challenge the fundamentally American idea of owning a car. We've been on this path because we believe transportation is a critical source of economic and social mobility, but car ownership is failing our communities.
Nearby Transit
We realize many riders use public transportation in addition to Lyft, and our goal is make their commute as seamless as possible. Passengers in select cities can now access different combinations of transit directly in the Lyft app to give them the most flexible and affordable routes to their destinations.
Through our acquisition of Motivate, Lyft is now the largest bikeshare operator in North America. What's more, we partnered with New York City to dramatically expand Citi Bike, and will be tripling its size to 40,000 bikes.
We launched scooters in 9 cities around the U.S., including Denver, Santa Monica, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Austin, Nashville, Arlington, San Diego, and Atlanta, and are committed to providing a safe and friendly experience for riders.
We made a multi-million dollar investment in 2018 alone to offset over a million metric tons of carbon, making Lyft a fully carbon neutral company.
We added seven new causes for passengers to round up their fare and support; together we've raised more than $11 million.
Get Out the Vote
Lyft helped register nearly 20,000 people to vote for the 2018 midterm elections.
We committed $1.5 million in free rides to rallies around the country.
Reducing the Healthcare Transportation Gap
Every year, 3.6 million people miss medical appointments due to a lack of transportation. We're committed to reducing this number by 50% by 2020 and now work with all of the top non-profit health systems and the top 10 non-emergency medical transportation brokers. We now offer healthcare rides in 50 states and D.C.
Blue Vision Labs
We acquired Blue Vision Labs, the London-based augmented reality startup, to help develop and innovate self-driving tech. Blue Vision's 40-person teamed joined Lyft, and we opened our first office in London. Our self-driving team is now over 300 people.
We partnered with Aptiv on our open platform, GoMentum Station, and Magna — the largest tier-one automotive supplier in North America — to expand our self-driving technology. Through our partnership with Aptiv, Lyft passengers can now take self-driving rides.
We unveiled our self-driving vehicle from Level 5 in Palo Alto, and we're currently testing on public roads in the Bay Area!
Self-Driving Rides
After the successful launch our self-driving pilot program with Aptiv at CES 2018, we introduced the largest commercial self-driving program available to the public to date. We've provided over 25,000 self-driving rides in Las Vegas since launching in May.
Adding Talent
We announced some world-class additions to our executive team, including Anthony Foxx, Chief Policy Officer; Jon McNeill, Chief Operating Officer; and Joy Howard, Chief Marketing Officer, to name a few. In just one year, Lyft has grown from 2,000 to more than 4,000 people!