Lyft's chief executive, David Risher, has given an interview marking three years since he took over the ride-hailing firm from its founders in an attempt to reverse its declining fortunes against dominant rival Uber. Risher outlined how he cut costs, raised driver pay and improved service reliability to return Lyft to profitability, though he acknowledged the company remains a distant second in market share and its share price has fallen this year. The interview matters because it captures how a long-struggling challenger is positioning itself against a much larger competitor while also navigating the coming shift towards autonomous vehicles.

When Risher joined in March 2023, Lyft's market share had fallen to around 26-27% against Uber, with the company losing roughly $300 million a year. He says share has since risen to about 31%, driven by faster pickups, fewer driver cancellations and higher driver satisfaction, alongside deals with Waymo and Nvidia and, this week, the addition of taxis to its New York offering. Lyft caps its take-rate at 30% after insurance costs, Risher said, while still handling around a billion rides annually in North America compared with Uber's roughly 14 billion rides globally, in a private-car market of some 160 billion annual journeys.