Pink-mustachioed cars were set to begin parading around downtown Boulder on Friday night to mark ride-sharing service Lyft’s entrance into the city.
San Francisco-based Lyft, a transportation startup that offers an on-demand ride-sharing service that can be ordered via mobile app, on Friday announced the expansion of its Denver service area to include Boulder, said Paige Thelen, a Lyft spokeswoman.
Lyft launched in Denver last year and has enlisted hundreds of drivers who use their personal vehicles for the ride-sharing service.
“We were seeing a lot of folks coming from areas around Denver and going to Boulder,” she said. “It seems like a natural extension for the market.”
The large student population and interest from others in the community should make for a good fit for Lyft, which positions itself as trying to “encourage human interaction and have community members connect with one another.”
That experience includes encouraging riders to sit in the front seats, greeting riders with fist bumps andgiving passengers control of the radio and access to candy, snacks and water, she said. The cars’ grills also are adorned with fluffy, pink mustaches.
Payments are made through the app. Lyft, which has operated on a donation-based model in some markets, charges a set rate in Denver based on time and mileage.
The northwesterly expansion up the U.S. 36 corridor comes a little more than a week after Colorado lawmakers approved a bill that would allow ride-sharing companies such as Lyft and Uber to legally operate in the state.
Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to sign the bill.
As a result of the legislation, Lyft and Uber’s UberX service will be classified as transportation network companies and subject to the oversight of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
The companies also will be required to screen their drivers for criminal and driving offenses and also have the drivers’ cars pass inspections and be marked as TNC vehicles. The drivers also have to carry personal insurance and be supplemented by the companies’ commercial insurance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
