A Brief History of Ride Sharing

Buckle up as we ride from 1605 through to 2015. Taxis vs Uber vs Lyft vs Sidecar

Let’s break it down:

• 1605: The first taxi service launches via horse & carriage
• 1908: The first car-based taxi service launches (yep, yellow cars)
• 2009: Brett tries to impress a girl by hailing a cab in SF. He’s unsuccessful
• 2010: Uber launches to help wealthy people hail a limo easier
• 2012: Lyft launches to help hitchhikers hail a ride easier
• 2012: Suddenly hitchhiking is socially acceptable and normal people use Lyft
• 2012: Uber launches UberX to compete with Lyft
• 2012: Taxis are like “hey, who want’s a ride?”
• 2012: Sidecar launches. No one really knows why
• 2013: Uber and Lyft start playing dirty
• 2013: Competition drives ride-sharing costs down
• 2013: Taxis start to get upset, but don’t do much about it
• 2014: Lyft launches Lyft Line, followed shortly after by Uber Pool, making the costs even cheaper
• 2014: Lyft and Uber build out insanely innovative features to attract attention (cat delivery, the World…