In an IPO prospectus released Friday (March 1), ride-hail company Lyft described the 18.6 million active riders who use its ride-hailing services or rent its shared bikes and scooters. As the first US ride-hail app to release its IPO filing, Lyft is giving an early glimpse into the audience for ride-sharing services in the US and Canada, where the company operates.
The typical Lyft rider—including ride-hailing and scooter- and bike-sharing—took 9.6 rides during the last quarter of 2018 1, generated upwards of $30 2 in revenue for Lyft, and downloaded the Lyft app organically 3 if they were newly active on the service. Last year, Lyft riders each spent around $270 on rides 4, and dropped an additional $83 at local businesses 5.
Riders use Lyft to commute to work 6, among other things 7, and while many users own or lease vehicles of their own 8, they don’t use their own cars as often 9 because of Lyft. The company, which acquired bike- and scooter-share company Motivate last year, says its mission is to transform transportation by ending mass car ownership in favor of ridesharing and other transportation options.
Lyft’s active riders are actually just phone numbers 10. The company tracks its users by the phone number they are required to provide to sign up for the service. If a rider uses two mobile phone numbers, that user would count as two different active riders.