New Lyft Program Pays People To Not Drive

Ridesharing company Lyft has announced a new program that will offer passengers transportation credits if they give up their cars for 30 days.

The Lyft program, called Ditch Your Car, will run from October 8 to November 6.

“We are on the brink of a massive shift in personal transportation, moving away from car ownership and into transportation as a service. Ditch Your Car is an extension of the mission we’ve been committed to for over a decade,” co-founder and president John Zimmer said in a press release.

Participants will have access to Lyft Shared (in available markets), Zipcar, local transit and bike share partners in more than 35 cities nationwide, including New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.

“At Zipcar, we’ve long envisioned a world where car sharing outnumbers car ownership, making our cities greener, healthier and more walkable,” said Zipcar president Tracey Zhen. “We’re challenging more people to join us and ‘test drive’ the low-car lifestyle by taking full advantage of the many mobility options now available in our cities.”

Earlier this week it was reported that JPMorgan Chase is reportedly in discussions with Lyft about being the lead banker on its pending initial public offering (IPO).

The report added that Lyft has hired Class V Group, the IPO advisory firm, and is looking at launching an IPO at some point next year. Its main rival Uber is also looking to file its IPO in 2019 but is further behind in its plans.

In May, Lyft said its internal market share numbers show that it now has 35 percent of the national ridesharing market, up from 20 percent 18 months prior. The company also noted that its market share is over 40 percent in 16 U.S. markets and that it has a majority share in “multiple” markets.

“The last 18 months have been a period of incredible, sustained growth for Lyft,” CFO Brian Roberts said at the time. “There are no signs of that momentum slowing down.”