Lyft News

2023 Economic Impact Report Reveals How Lyft Impacts Communities

Mar 22, 2023

Lyft surveys tens of thousands of riders and drivers every year to understand the role our transportation network plays in their lives. For eight years, we’ve published our Economic Impact Report to share our findings, illustrate who rides and drives with Lyft, and explore how and why they rely on rideshare and shared micromobility. 

This year’s report focuses on our impact on the fabric of life in communities across North America, as people’s habits — commuting, dining out, and traveling — continue to return to normal. 

Drivers 

People who earn with Lyft come from all walks of life, so there’s no single type of driver:

  • 90% of drivers work or study in addition to doing app-based work.

  • 68% of drivers have a job or are looking for a job outside of app-based work.

  • 19% of drivers own a business in addition to driving on the Lyft platform.

  • 16% of drivers said they signed up to drive with Lyft to get through temporary unemployment.

Yet all drivers seem to have one thing in common: the desire to earn when, where, and for however long they want. In fact, 94% of drivers say flexibility is very or extremely important. 

This is because the majority of drivers use rideshare to supplement their income — to earn more than what their primary job pays or to help them pursue a passion. They drive just a few hours, a few days a week, taking time between sessions to do other things:

  • Drivers come online for an average of 1 hour 23 minutes at a time.

  • 94% of drivers drive fewer than 20 hours per week. These drivers give the majority of rides on the Lyft platform.

  • 44% of drivers took a break of at least four consecutive weeks and returned to driving. 16% took a break of at least 12 weeks before returning.

Lyft pursues policies that protect this flexibility — because it’s what drivers want — while also working to modernize archaic labor laws that keep Lyft from providing drivers with additional benefits and protections. We supported Washington State’s HB2076 and California’s Proposition 22 — groundbreaking policies that maintain the independence that drivers need while providing additional protections and benefits — as did the majority of drivers. In fact:

  • Drivers are five times more likely to prefer a work arrangement with flexibility and benefits over being an employee.

  • 65% of drivers would stop driving with app-based platforms if they lost their independence.

Years after passage, these policies remain popular with almost all drivers. Proposition 22 passed in 2020 with nearly 60% of the vote, and three years later, California drivers on the Lyft platform were four times more likely than not to say Prop 22 has been good for them.

Riders 

In 2022, more than 45 million people used the Lyft platform to find a ride, bike or scooter. 

The rider community is just as diverse as the driver community. Lyft riders are more likely than the U.S. population to be members of communities of color. They are also more likely to be members of the LGBTQ+ community.

  • 47% of riders identify as members of a community of color.

  • 21% of riders identify as Hispanic or Latin American, compared with 18% of the U.S.

  • 19% of riders identify as Black, African American/Canadian, or Afro-Caribbean, compared with 14% of the U.S.

Contrary to some beliefs, we’ve also seen that riders come from a variety of economic backgrounds. Different groups of riders use Lyft in different ways in order to meet their unique needs. 43% of rides in the U.S. start or end in low-income areas, and lower-income riders are significantly more likely to use Lyft to find transportation to work, interviews, and healthcare:

  • Low-income riders are over 70% more likely than others to use Lyft to find transportation to work; 

  • And twice as likely to use Lyft to find transportation for healthcare-related trips.

Many communities that are traditionally underserved by transportation are turning to Lyft to help them get to the essential places in their lives. 

The broader community

The communities in which we operate benefit from access to more sustainable transportation, stimulating spending and facilitating community engagement. Riders saved 172 million hours compared with other modes of transportation, with estimated time and travel cost savings of $6.5 billion.

We’ve also made progress on our goal of reducing car ownership:

  • We estimate that Lyft riders own 8 million fewer vehicles because of rideshare.

  • In 2022, people biked 91 million miles on Lyft-operated bikeshare systems.

One of our core focuses for 2022 was to give back and foster prosperity in communities:

  • We provided access to an estimated 4.6 million discounted or donated rideshare, bikeshare, and shared scooter rides to help under-resourced communities. 

  • Job-seekers took more than 50,000 discounted or donated rides to new jobs, trainings, or interviews through Lyft’s Jobs Access Program.

  • Lyft riders donated over $3 million through our Round Up & Donate program. 

Lyft believes in the power of cities built around people, not cars. To learn more about how we’re achieving that vision, please read our full 2023 Economic Impact Report.


Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this announcement are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the securities laws, including statements about the economic impact of Lyft’s services, policies and initiatives. Such statements, which are not of historical fact, involve estimates, assumptions, judgments and uncertainties. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those addressed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors are detailed in Lyft’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lyft does not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events, except as required by applicable law.