Lyft launches Ottawa ride-sharing service to rival Uber

By Emma Jiayue Liu

Lyft officially launched in Ottawa on March 15 as a competitor to both Uber and local taxi companies.

The rideshare app based in San Francisco was granted a private transportation company licence from the City of Ottawa in February.

Lyft works essentially the same way as Uber — passengers download the app and request rides from the smartphone.

Users are required to link their credit card information or PayPal in order to complete their online payments.

However, Lyft is an emerging transportation business in Ottawa, which means it may cost more money and more waiting time than the more established Uber.

“Thousands of people are downloading Lyft’s driver application and passenger application,” Aaron Zifkin, Lyft’s managing director for Canada, recently told the Ottawa Citizen.

Zifkin didn’t say how many drivers the company had signed up so far in Ottawa.

Lyft has partnered with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to give passengers the option of donating to the hospital. Passengers can round up their fares to the nearest dollar and donate the difference to CHEO.

Ottawa passengers were also invited to receive $5 off by using the code 2018HIOTTAWA on their first ride.