Move over, Uber, a new ride sharing app is coming to town.
The San Francisco-based ride sharing app Lyft will be expanding its network outside their home country for the first time, coming to Toronto this December. The service will be available throughout sections of the GTA and Hamilton. Lyft will be offering five different programs including Lyft Plus, Lyft Premiere, Lyft Lux, and Lyft Lux SUV programs for up to four riders at a time.
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“It’s a big decision. It’s a big moment for us, and we’re excited to be coming to Toronto,” Lyft’s president and co-founder John Zimmer told The Star.
“We see [Toronto] as a world-class city. It will likely become one of our top five markets overall. We expect that to happen, and we see it as a city that really shares the values that we have at Lyft — focusing on people taking care of people, treating people well, treating people with mutual respect and promoting both inclusion and diversity.”
For five years now Uber has ruled Toronto’s ride sharing scene, knocking off competitor Hailo back in 2014. But the company has faced their fair share of controversies both internationally and locally. Their questionable treatment of drivers, paired with the companies decision to raise fares during an anti-Trump/Travel ban protest sparked the #DeleteUber movement online, causing CEO Travis Kalanick to step down earlier this year. Locally, taxi companies have been furious about the company’s ability to operate in a legal grey area caused protests in Toronto last summer.
Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash
