Lyft launches in Kitchener-Waterloo and London

This Monday, May 16, 2016, file photo shows a smartphone displaying the Lyft app, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

Lyft has expanded its ridesharing service to Kitchener-Waterloo and London.

The company said its cars hit the road Tuesday.

Lyft first came to Toronto in 2017 and then launched in Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.

The company said they’ve already provided more than 68 million rides to Canadians.

To celebrate the expansion, Lyft is offering riders in both Kitchener-Waterloo and London 25 per cent off their first three rides within a 14-day period.

TAXI COMPANIES REACT

The arrival of another ridesharing service doesn’t surprise local taxi companies.

“We most definitely knew it would come at some point,” said Tony Rodriguez, the director of marketing for Waterloo Taxi and its app,Lokal. “We certainly don’t feel that there is demand for more hailing vehicles on the road, or taxis, for that matter. We feel that the number that are currently out there, certainly provide adequate service to the community.”

Rodriguez saidWaterloo Taxi currently has between 200 and 300 drivers.

When Uber announced its plan to expand in Waterloo Region, they launched Lokal.

“When faced with competition you have two choices – you can whine and complain or you can act and compete. Part of that entailed launching our own app,” said Rodriguez. “We have our own hailing app that’s incredibly successful. It is serving not only us, but the community incredibly well and it keeps growing. We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. It’s our backyard and we’re going to take care of it.”

He adds that Lokal is different from other apps in that riders don’t have register their credit card and get fixed rates without surge pricing.

Rodriguez said there’s also another benefit to choosing a locally owned and operated service.

“We are local in every sense of the word. What I mean by that, our drivers live in your neighbourhoods, they shop at your grocery stores. We are a very community-conscious company in that we show a ton of goodwill to the community in many different ways and I think that’s very important to note. These big guns, they don’t do that.”

Lyft declined CTV News’ request for an interview.