Lyft is pushing to reduce surge pricing by boosting the availability of drivers.
In the recent earnings call, CEO David mentioned that Lyft experienced an “improved balance” in its marketplace from active riders and drivers. He reported a 35% decrease in Lyft rides with surge pricing during the second quarter compared to the previous quarter. Additionally, he noted a higher proportion of ride intent translating into actual rides taken. As per the company’s data, there was a year-over-year increase of over 20% in the count of drivers utilizing Lyft, along with a growth of over 35% in the hours they spent driving on the platform.
During the later part of the call, Risher clarified that price surging occurs when a ride-share company lacks sufficient driver availability, prompting the company to mobilize more drivers to decrease rider demand. Lyft refers to this concept as “primetime” instead of using the term “price surging.” Risher described this type of price increase as an especially unfavorable method, as riders strongly dislike it. He stated that their aim is to eliminate this practice, emphasizing that due to their substantial driver supply – an achievement they’ve dedicated significant efforts towards – the occurrence of such price surging has notably decreased. He referred back to the earlier statistic indicating a decrease in Lyft rides with surge pricing on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
In the second quarter, Lyft witnessed a 3% rise in revenue compared to the previous year, coupled with a significant 69.7% reduction in net loss, amounting to $1.02 billion and $114.3 million, respectively. However, during the same period, the revenue generated per each of its nearly 21.5 million active riders came to $47.51, marking a decrease of approximately 4.8% in comparison to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
