Lyft App Offers Multimodal Travel Information

"In certain North American cities, dockless scooters, shared bikes, car rentals, and public transit options will now appear next to vehicle rides on the Lyft platform. Time and cost comparisons will also show up on the menu," writes Laura Bliss.

Lyft says its goal is to decrease car ownership by consolidating travel information on one platform, making it easier to access different modes. "In one sense, it’s logical that Lyft customers should be able to select from multiple modes in one place, since the company now offers so many of them. Its recent expansions in dockless scooters, bikeshare systems, and short-term car rentals (currently only available in California) are signs of its ambitions to be a one-stop mobility provider," says Bliss. 

Uber recently started offering transit ticket sales through its app for Denver transit. Lyft users will not be able to buy tickets, but they will have access to route and fare information for 80 percent of transit routes in the United States, notes Bliss. "And, using a combination of route data provided by public agencies, and Lyft’s own predictive software, Lyft users will now be able to watch, on-screen, where and when transit vehicles will be arriving."