Lyft Increase Fares in 14 Cities and Safety Fee in Every City
Last month, Lyft made some minor cuts to the fares in a few cities. Here is the list of cities, along with the amount of the fare cuts.
| Before | After | ||||||
| Base | Mile | Minute | Base | Mile | Minute | Lyft Regular | |
| Jacksonville | $ 1.00 | $ 0.68 | $ 0.12 | $ – | $ 0.75 | $ 0.12 | -30% |
| Madison | $ 1.28 | $ 1.12 | $ 0.18 | $ 1.25 | $ 1.12 | $ 0.18 | -1% |
| New Jersey | $ 1.13 | $ 1.10 | $ 0.18 | $ 1.00 | $ 0.86 | $ 0.15 | -17% |
| Reno | $ 2.00 | $ 1.08 | $ 0.22 | $ 2.00 | $ 1.10 | $ 0.20 | -2% |
| Salt Lake City | $ 0.75 | $ 0.90 | $ 0.14 | $ 0.50 | $ 0.95 | $ 0.11 | -16% |
| Santa Barbara | $ 0.50 | $ 1.02 | $ 0.20 | $ 1.00 | $ 1.25 | $ 0.22 | 44% |
| Spokane | $ 0.90 | $ 1.00 | $ 0.10 | $ 1.00 | $ 1.00 | $ 0.10 | 4% |
Spokane got a small 4% increase of the fare. I wasn’t as newsworthy so I did not make a separate post about it.
Fare Increases
Yesterday, Lyft sent emails to drivers in 14 cities that they would be increasing the fares in those cities, effective yesterday. Here is the list of cities:
- Atlanta
- Charlotte
- Cincinnati
- Honolulu
- Indianapolis
- Lake Tahoe
- Napa and Sonoma County
- New Orleans
- Portland
- Santa Barbara (in August)
- Seattle
- Silicon Valley
- Toledo
- Tucson
- Virginia Beach Hampton Roads
Lyft also decreased fares in some of these cities back in January because Uber had lowered fares in over 100 cities as well. Just as a reminder, here are the cities Lyft cut fares in January out of the list above:
| Lyft | Lyft Plus | |
| Cincinnati | 30% | 29% |
| Indianapolis | 21% | 11% |
| Napa and Sonoma County | -38% | 38% |
| Silicon Valley | 7% | 37% |
| Toledo | 29% | 9% |
| Virginia Beach Hampton Roads | 39% | 36% |
(Note that Lyft in Napa Valley received a price increase back in January)
Analysis
The average fare increase in these 14 cities are 22% for Lyft and 23% for Lyft Plus. However, if you compare the current fare levels to that from December 2015, half of the 14 cities are still lower than the fares in December. On average, they are still 5% lower than December on Lyft and 2% higher on Lyft Plus.
It seems as if Lyft rolled back their winter pricing for the fall season. It is unclear if they will reverse these fare increases in January like they did earlier this year.
Fare Data
Here is the fare increases in the above cities. There are separate charts for Lyft and Lyft Plus since Lyft have increased fares in both categories in the above listed cities.
Lyft
The fare increase column is how much the fare has increased yesterday. The last column highlights the difference in the fare relative to the levels as of December 2015.
| Before | After | |||||||
| Base | Mile | Minute | Base | Mile | Minute | Fare Increase | Diff from 2015 | |
| Atlanta | $ 0.90 | $ 0.78 | $ 0.12 | $ 1.45 | $ 0.95 | $ 0.12 | 28% | 4% |
| Charlotte | $ 1.10 | $ 0.77 | $ 0.16 | $ 1.25 | $ 0.90 | $ 0.20 | 19% | 19% |
| Cincinnati | $ 1.00 | $ 0.80 | $ 0.16 | $ 1.50 | $ 1.00 | $ 0.16 | 25% | -17% |
| Honolulu | $ 2.00 | $ 1.10 | $ 0.22 | $ 2.00 | $ 1.70 | $ 0.22 | 18% | 14% |
| Indianapolis | $ 1.25 | $ 0.76 | $ 0.14 | $ 1.70 | $ 0.90 | $ 0.15 | 21% | -8% |
| Lake Tahoe | $ 2.50 | $ 1.85 | $ 0.49 | $ 3.00 | $ 2.75 | $ 0.55 | 27% | |
| Napa and Sonoma County | $ 2.00 | $ 1.15 | $ 0.25 | $ 2.00 | $ 1.50 | $ 0.30 | 17% | 6% |
| New Orleans | $ 1.20 | $ 0.91 | $ 0.18 | $ 1.35 | $ 1.25 | $ 0.20 | 20% | |
| Portland | $ 1.20 | $ 1.16 | $ 0.20 | $ 2.00 | $ 1.35 | $ 0.20 | 28% | -13% |
| Santa Barbara | $ 0.50 | $ 1.02 | $ 0.20 | $ 1.00 | $ 1.25 | $ 0.22 | 44% | -17% |
| Seattle | $ 1.35 | $ 1.37 | $ 0.22 | $ 1.70 | $ 1.60 | $ 0.25 | 19% | 13% |
| Silicon Valley | $ 1.50 | $ 0.87 | $ 0.16 | $ 2.25 | $ 0.95 | $ 0.20 | 28% | -2% |
| Toledo | $ 0.85 | $ 0.75 | $ 0.11 | $ 1.10 | $ 0.90 | $ 0.15 | 29% | -11% |
| Tucson | $ 1.00 | $ 0.95 | $ 0.16 | $ 1.00 | $ 1.05 | $ 0.16 | 4% | -21% |
| Virginia Beach Hampton Roads | $ 0.50 | $ 0.64 | $ 0.11 | $ 0.70 | $ 0.85 | $ 0.11 | 24% | -40% |
You can see that there are many cities that still have fares that are lower than they were back in December 2015.
Lyft Plus
The fare increase column is how much the fare has increased yesterday. The last column highlights the difference in the fare relative to the levels as of December 2015.
| Before | After | |||||||
| Base | Mile | Minute | Base | Mile | Minute | Fare Increase | Diff from 2015 | |
| Atlanta | $ 3.00 | $ 2.00 | $ 0.30 | $ 4.00 | $ 2.80 | $ 0.30 | 24% | 32% |
| Charlotte | $ 1.75 | $ 1.60 | $ 0.20 | $ 2.10 | $ 1.85 | $ 0.25 | 20% | 7% |
| Cincinnati | $ 2.00 | $ 1.22 | $ 0.30 | $ 2.50 | $ 1.50 | $ 0.35 | 22% | -16% |
| Honolulu | $ 3.00 | $ 2.60 | $ 0.45 | $ 4.00 | $ 3.25 | $ 0.49 | 22% | 19% |
| Indianapolis | $ 2.00 | $ 1.50 | $ 0.25 | $ 2.30 | $ 1.75 | $ 0.30 | 17% | 3% |
| Lake Tahoe | $ 2.50 | $ 2.96 | $ 0.79 | $ 4.00 | $ 4.00 | $ 1.00 | 41% | |
| Napa and Sonoma County | $ 3.00 | $ 2.10 | $ 0.30 | $ 3.40 | $ 2.75 | $ 0.35 | 20% | 38% |
| New Orleans | $ 1.90 | $ 1.55 | $ 0.30 | $ 2.30 | $ 2.35 | $ 0.35 | 30% | |
| Portland | $ 2.00 | $ 2.00 | $ 0.25 | $ 3.00 | $ 2.35 | $ 0.25 | 23% | -18% |
| Seattle | $ 3.00 | $ 2.80 | $ 0.30 | $ 3.50 | $ 3.70 | $ 0.30 | 16% | 23% |
| Silicon Valley | $ 2.00 | $ 1.42 | $ 0.24 | $ 2.50 | $ 1.95 | $ 0.24 | 21% | -35% |
| Toledo | $ 1.50 | $ 1.55 | $ 0.21 | $ 2.60 | $ 1.85 | $ 0.21 | 31% | 8% |
| Tucson | $ 2.50 | $ 1.60 | $ 0.28 | $ 3.10 | $ 1.85 | $ 0.30 | 16% | -7% |
| Virginia Beach Hampton Roads | $ 0.95 | $ 1.00 | $ 0.20 | $ 1.10 | $ 1.25 | $ 0.25 | 22% | -31% |
You can see that there are many cities that still have fares that are lower than they were back in December 2015.
Trust and Service Fee
At the end of August, Lyft went around and increased the Trust and Safety Fee in almost every market. This does not affect drivers as this fee is charged directly to the passengers. Here is the list of cities, along with the before and after data for comparison. In most cities, the fee went up an additional 15 cents, similar to what Uber did last year.
| Safety | Safety | |
| Albuquerque | $ 1.90 | $ 2.05 |
| Ann Arbor | $ 1.65 | $ 1.80 |
| Annapolis | $ 2.00 | $ 2.15 |
| Atlanta | $ 1.75 | $ 1.90 |
| Austin | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Bakersfield | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Baltimore | $ 1.75 | $ 1.90 |
| Bloomington | $ 1.55 | $ 1.65 |
| Boulder | $ 1.95 | $ 2.10 |
| Boston | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Charlotte | $ 1.65 | $ 1.80 |
| Chicago | $ 1.60 | $ 1.70 |
| Cincinnati | $ 1.60 | $ 1.75 |
| Cleveland | $ 1.70 | $ 1.85 |
| Colorado Springs | $ 1.95 | $ 2.10 |
| Columbus | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Dallas Fort Worth | $ 1.70 | $ 1.85 |
| Denver | $ 1.95 | $ 2.10 |
| Detroit | $ 2.30 | $ 2.45 |
| East Bay | $ 1.55 | $ 1.75 |
| Fort Collins | $ 1.95 | $ 2.10 |
| Fresno | $ 1.75 | $ 1.90 |
| Honolulu | $ 1.55 | $ 1.55 |
| Indianapolis | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Inland Empire | $ 2.45 | $ 2.60 |
| Jacksonville | $ 2.05 | $ 4.25 |
| Lafayette | $ 1.55 | $ 1.65 |
| Lake Tahoe | $ 1.75 | $ 1.90 |
| Las Vegas | $ 1.70 | $ 1.85 |
| Lexington | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Lincoln | $ 1.55 | $ 1.65 |
| Los Angeles | $ 1.65 | $ 1.80 |
| Louisville | $ 1.60 | $ 1.75 |
| Madison | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Memphis | $ 1.90 | $ 2.05 |
| Miami | $ 1.85 | $ 1.95 |
| Milwaukee | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Minneapolis St Paul | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Modesto | $ 1.60 | $ 1.75 |
| Napa and Sonoma County | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Nashville | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| New Jersey | $ 1.60 | $ 1.75 |
| New Orleans | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| New York City | $ – | $ – |
| Oklahoma City | $ 1.80 | $ 1.95 |
| Omaha | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Orange County | $ 1.95 | $ 2.00 |
| Orlando | $ 2.05 | $ 2.20 |
| Palm Springs | $ 1.95 | $ 2.10 |
| Park City | $ 1.55 | $ 1.65 |
| Philadelphia | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Phoenix | $ 1.80 | $ 1.95 |
| Pittsburgh | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Portland | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Providence | $ 1.55 | $ 1.65 |
| Raleigh Durham | $ 1.80 | $ 1.95 |
| Reno | $ 1.70 | $ 1.85 |
| Sacramenot | $ 1.75 | $ 1.90 |
| Salt Lake City | $ 1.65 | $ 1.80 |
| San Antonio | $ 1.70 | $ 1.70 |
| San Diego | $ 1.75 | $ 1.90 |
| San Francisco | $ 1.65 | $ 1.75 |
| Santa Barbara | $ 1.55 | $ 1.60 |
| Seattle | $ 1.95 | $ 1.90 |
| Silicon Valley | $ 1.55 | $ 1.70 |
| Spokane | $ 1.85 | $ 1.90 |
| Stockton | $ 1.75 | $ 1.80 |
| Tacoma | $ 1.65 | $ 1.65 |
| Tampa Bay | $ 1.70 | $ 1.85 |
| Toledo | $ 1.60 | $ 1.75 |
| Tucson | $ 1.60 | $ 1.60 |
| Tulsa | $ 1.65 | $ 1.80 |
| Ventura | $ 2.35 | |
| Virginia Beach Hampton Roads | $ 1.90 | $ 2.05 |
| Washington DC | $ 1.65 | $ 1.80 |
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