Lyft expands service in Lower Mainland to meet demand

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Lyft is now able to pick people up in more cities around the Lower Mainland in order to meet the high demand for the ride-hailing app.

Lyft expanded its service to Richmond, New Westminster, northern Surrey, and the rest of Vancouver, excluding UBC.

The company’s General Manager Peter Lukomskyj says they’ve seen immense momentum since the app became available in the region.

“We really just invested a lot in British Columbia, and we’re here for the long haul. We know British Columbians are really enjoying the service that we’re providing and we know we’ll be the ones they’re choosing in the long-term,” he says.

By expanding the service area, Lukomskyj says drivers should be able to turn on the app and pick someone up within five to 10 minutes of where they live.

“What we’ve done here is really expanded the region in a way that we can still try to keep our wait times as low as possible and our drivers as busy as possible, but really get closer to where our drivers live,” he says, noting most drivers live outside Vancouver.

There are still some cities where Lyft isn’t operating, like Burnaby. Lukomskyj notes the city has a licence for their company, however, he says it is cost-prohibitive. When the inter-municipal regional licence becomes available, Lukomskyj says the company plans to serve as much of the region as possible.

Lyft and Uber were approved to operate in the Lower Mainland late last month.

With files from Paul James.