Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Monday 4 SepteMber 2017
A25

As Uber drove into PR pot hole, Lyft stepped on the gas

By TOM KRISHER behavior but because of
MICHAEL LIEDTKE Lyft’s customer service.
AP Business Writers “They seem to be really re-
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — sponsive to the issue when
When management up- you contact them as op-
heaval, allegations of cor- posed to Uber,” she said,
porate espionage, and although she noted that
revelations of sexual ha- while both companies are
rassment sent Uber into a equally accessible within
public relations sinkhole, its the metro area, Uber is
long overshadowed rival faster outside of Washing-
Lyft shifted into overdrive. ton, especially in smaller
The company seized the cities.
opportunity to recruit disil- Internally, Uber has been
lusioned drivers so it could making adjustments to
be more responsive to pas- treat its drivers and em-
sengers searching for a ployees better. It recently
ride-hailing alternative to matched Lyft by letting
Uber. It upgraded its smart- riders tip drivers on its app.
phone app, stepped up It’s also hired thousands of
marketing efforts to attract people to better distribute
more riders and expanded the workload and started
its U.S.-only service into 160 serving its free dinners 90
more cities for a total of minutes earlier at its San
about 350. Francisco headquarters so
On Thursday, Lyft made In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016 photo, a driver displaying Lyft and Uber stickers on his front wind- workers don’t stay as late.
a big expansion move by shield drops off a customer in downtown Los Angeles. As Uber recently fell into a public relations “Tiny, tiny symbolism, but
announcing that it is add- sinkhole, its long overshadowed rival Lyft shifted into overdrive. it matters to people,” said
ing statewide coverage to (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) Liane Hornsey, Uber’s chief
32 states, bringing its total human resources officer.
to 40. tive. And while it concedes over 30 percent, accord- treat our customers better. The company also recently
The aggressive tactics cast that this year’s missteps ing to Lyft’s internal metrics. And they like that we have fired 20 employees after
the much smaller Lyft in a have slowed its growth, it Logan Green and John a brand that sort of stands a report by former U.S. At-
new light. After five years says ridership is still rising be- Zimmer, Lyft’s low-key for taking care of people, torney General Eric Holder
of being content in its role cause customers value the 33-year-old founders, insist where Uber has done a lot found rampant misbe-
as the fun-loving, pink-mus- service. It’s in the midst of they haven’t done much to build the opposite type havior and urged Uber to
tached underdog of ride self-proclaimed “180 days except adhere to a be- of brand.” clean things up.q
hailing, Lyft is proving to of change” in an effort to lief that passengers should Nick Raef, 23, who works
be a wily opportunist and alter a culture that fostered be treated like guests at a at Northwestern University
a more imposing threat to rapid growth but also en- friendly hotel or even Dis- near Chicago, considers
Uber. couraged bad behavior. neyland. price and brand image
But a huge chasm still sepa- Yet the ground that Lyft Both dress casually and each time he chooses be-
rates the foes in terms of fi- has been gaining can’t blend into the headquar- tween Uber and Lyft. Ser-
nancial resources, ridership be ignored. By the time ters’ workforce. While the vice in Chicago, he says, is
and breadth of operations. Uber’s board ousted abra- soft-spoken Green and close to even between the
While Lyft’s rides are in the sive CEO Travis Kalanick in more animated Zimmer two. But if Uber happens to
millions per year and only in June, Lyft had more than are careful not to gloat, be misbehaving on a par-
the U.S., Uber makes 10 mil- doubled its ridership from they concede that the tur- ticular day, he’ll go with Lyft
lion trips per day worldwide the first six months of last moil at Uber is accelerating even if it’s more expensive.
and has carried more than year. At the end of June, it Lyft’s growth. “I’ve told myself this con-
5 billion passengers in over had passed 2016’s full-year “As we get service levels to troversy is worth a dollar or
80 countries since 2009. ride total of 162.5 million. parity and pickup times are $2 depending on how bad
Uber has raised nearly $14 To be sure, Lyft already equal, people prefer using the story was that day,” he
billion in capital since its was growing fast before Lyft,” Green said in a recent said.
inception, compared with Uber went into self-destruct interview at the company’s In the Maryland suburbs of
Lyft’s $2.6 billion. mode. Lyft’s share of the airy offices in a block-long Washington, federal em-
For its part, Uber is doing all U.S. ride-hailing market in office complex near San ployee Whitlee Dean, 28,
it can to keep its lead. The the past two years grew at Francisco Bay. “They like says she takes Lyft whenev-
company this week hired double the rate of Uber, ris- that we treat our drivers er she goes into the city, not
Expedia CEO Dara Khos- ing from 12 percent to just better. They like that we so much because of Uber’s
rowshahi as its top execu-