Lyft Sees 7.3 Pct Bump In Ridership In August As Canadian Market Strengthens

Lyft said it saw a 7.3 percent jump in ride operations in August from the month prior, according to Reuters.

Operations in Canada seemed to be recovering faster than those in the U.S., comparing the only two countries in which the rideshare company operates.

Lyft said on Tuesday (Sept. 8) that it had used less driver incentives in August as more drivers returned to work, according to Reuters. The company said it thinks even fewer incentives will be needed going forward.

However, ride-hailing still isn’t quite to where it had been before the pandemic, with rides still down 53 percent compared to the same time in 2019. But during the height of the pandemic in the spring, rides had been down around 80 percent, Reuters reported. Lyft adjusted its losses for the third quarter to not exceed an expected $265 million.

In May, Lyft President John Zimmer said that Americans would turn to rideshare jobs as an easy way to make up for their lost income after the pandemic had wiped out scores of jobs in the country in one fell swoop, Reuters reported.

Lyft also confirmed it is ramping up spending on Proposition 22 in California, which would reverse a hotly-contested ballot item that forces gig economy companies to classify their workers as employees instead of contractors. Lyft joined Uber, DoorDash and Instacart in each spending $17.5 million more on that measure. The total funding for the campaign is now sitting at $181 million, according to a public state filing from last week, Reuters reported.

Last month, Lyft reported that July ridership dropped 60 percent in the second quarter, but CEO Logan Green said he was optimistic about recovery.

“While rideshare rides in the quarter were down significantly year over year, we are encouraged by the recovery trends we are beginning to see, with monthly rideshare rides in July up 78 percent compared to April,” he said at the time.