Lyft Is Doing 30,000 Rides A Week, Raises $60 Million From Andreessen Horowitz

I love Lyft and have been using the service for almost a year now, but they've gotten greedy with their pricing model. About once a month I'll take a Lyft home from work, and the same ride has steadily become more expensive. What once costed $12, now costs $18, when a cab would charge $14. It's an easy way for them to boost profits, but I think riders will catch on and look elsewhere as cabs start to get their act together. Flywheel is an app for hailing cabs, and you can pay through your phone just like Lyft. Cab drivers attitude has significantly improved over the course of a year and I'm now no longer opposed to taking one like I once was.

Whether you believe in Lyft or not, it's amazing that in just one year transportation in SF is a solved problem. And soon it will be in many other cities as well. I remember waiting on the phone for Yellow Cab to confirm my taxi and it would sometimes take hours. I would have to plan my night ahead. Now with Uber, Sidecar, Lyft, and Flywheel I can be out the door in 5 minutes.

I like how A16Z is so bold. $60M for a Company with that kind of revenues take a lot of guts... and yet, if this is a winner, they are right to do it.<p>Congrats to Lyft- awesome service.

I can't wait until SF gets Car2Go. It's an amazing service that is surprisingly cheaper than Uber, Lyft... even the bus!<p>The most expensive part of a cab ride is the labor. That labor is uneccesary for people who know how to drive and haven't been drinking. Car2Go fixes that problem handily.

This makes me wonder where Sidecar is headed. I'm in Boston so I do not get to experience Lyft except when visiting SF twice a year. Sidecar seems to be a much looser experience than Lyft with the drivers feeling more like the friend of a friend that may or may not get you home alive.<p>That's obviously somewhat of an exaggeration but I've found the few Lyft rides I've taken to be more "professional" than those I've done with Sidecar (and by professional I'm referring to the way the drivers operate their vehicles). Uber is obviously the leader in this but Lyft seems a few steps above Sidecar.<p>As a customer I want as many ride providers as possible to keep competition intense. I'm very curious to see where this market goes.

disclaimer: I have never used Lyft<p>I honestly do not get the appeal of Lyft. What seperates it from Sidecar (another rideshare) or the cheaper instances of Uber (i.e. UberX and TAXI).<p>The whole pink mustache thing kind of turns me off as well..

Question: if lyft drivers don't have to purchase professional insurance, why should cab companies have to do so? The insurance companies charge a lot more when driving for hire.

An issue with Lyft, or any ride sharing service, is that they'll need to figure out how to operate in sprawly areas where customers are low-density. I spoke with them last year about their options for opening up in Detroit, but it seemed like a stretch for their ops; the only service I see really working there is Uber.<p>I imagine a similar issue for Dallas, Atlanta, etc. would transpire.

My first thought was 60 million is alot of money which also means their valuation is really up there.I think alot of these sharing companies Airbnb Lyft etc are interseting love their vibe and profit models but they are playing in markets that are zero sum games and the old guard that they are disrupting are going launch serious knock down drag out legal battles in the near future.

I've never used lyft, but everyone I know that has tried it really loves it. Whatever they're doing, keep doing it!

I really hate Lyft based on the behavior of their drivers in SF; I've had them on many separate occasions do crazy things like cut across 4 lanes to make a turn, block driveways, etc. Things which a taxi driver doesn't do, or which I'd call TL&#38;C and report the cab for.

Seems like a short term business, especially if self-driving car fleets take off.

Whatever it may be, I'm just happy that people are being able to bring money home by participating in this.