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American ride-hailing company Lyft has announced the launch of its own teen account service, allowing minors as young as 13 to hail a taxi without an adult present.
Lyft currently has 25 million active riders and coordinates 9 million rides per day across the US, Canada, and Europe, making it the second-largest ride-hailing service in the U.S. after Uber.
The group’s teen service, launched on Monday, has rolled out in over 200 U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, and New York.
The feature includes embedded safety measures such as PIN verification, audio recording, and live location tracking, allowing parents to book rides on behalf of underage riders with peace of mind and the assurance of rigorous safeguards.
Alongside these safety features, drivers responsible for teen rides will be subject to more prescriptive criteria and will need to pass yearly background checks.
Lyft is following in the footsteps of competitor Uber, which launched its own teen service back in 2024. Uber’s teen accounts have successfully operated in cities across the US, Canada, and, most recently, in a select group of cities in India.
This new feature is part of a wider restructuring following the appointment of David Risher as CEO, who announced Lyft’s plans to expand its well-loved taxi service to a younger demographic on X earlier this week.
Risher spoke on importance of rigorous safety features across the new platform; speaking to CNBC last week he justified the delayed roll out of the teen account, saying the company “wanted to get it right” instead of rushing towards deployment.
The company, which has autonomous partnerships with Baidu and May Mobility, has further plans to expand its operations in Europe following the unveiling of its latest acquisition: German mobility-as-a-service provider FREENOW.
Lyft’s teen service further demonstrates the company’s commitment to position itself as a serious competitor in the ride-hailing space as it expands its service to untapped markets and new geographies.
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