Lyft share price up 2% after expanding pooled ride service

Lyft share price is up as the company expanded its pooled ride service. The ridesharing company is expanding its pooled service for customers to New York City after first launching in Denver, Colorado.

What is the Lyft pooled service?

Lyft announced that it is expanding its Shared Saver program to New York to have more customers share rides together and to save money on fares. For a fare reduction, riders can walk a few more blocks to meet their driver. In a statement, Ann Ferracane, general manager for Lyft in New York, praised the company’s service.

‘Shared Saver is a real step in helping New York City further address traffic and congestion by promoting shared rides through the city's congestion zones. And by ensuring rides are more dependably affordable, we're also able to better serve New Yorkers on a fixed income or living in the transit deserts of the outer boroughs, creating a fairer transit system overall,’ added Ferracane.

What is the environmental impact of Lyft?

Lyft claims that the Shared Saver service will reduce congestion by having more customers share rides. However, Murray Rosenblith, portfolio manager of the New Alternatives Fund, says Lyft is still causing more pollution by having more people ride in cars instead of taking public transportation.

‘As far as I can tell, they’re actually putting more cars into the congested areas, and they’re pulling business out of the transit systems,’ said Rosenblith.

Rosenblith doesn’t think this latest action by the corporation will inspire environmentally conscious investors like his company to buy Lyft shares since the launch of its IPO.

‘This is not an area where New Alternatives is going to get engaged,’ said Rosenblith.

Anthony Foxx, chief policy officer for Lyft, said the ridesharing corporation is taking gradual steps to reduce city congestion.

‘We are on a long path. We didn’t get to this level of congestion in our cities overnight,’ said Foxx.