MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — In the fast-changing world of the modern taxi cab industry, one of the nation’s most established companies has expanded its reach to Milledgeville. 

 For much of the past several years, Uber, Lyft, and other corporations have been remaking the way Americans hail a cab with a new concept called “ride-sharing,” the practice of providing a taxi through drivers using their own personal vehicles. Similar to traditional taxi services but without the overhead of a fleet of vehicles, these new, often-cheaper providers have grown rapidly throughout the U.S. by outsourcing work to millions of background-checked, often part-time drivers. In the race to expand their service areas to the entire contiguous United States, Lyft, one of the two biggest ride-sharing firms, has beaten its competitors into Milledgeville.

 “I actually heard about it a couple weeks ago at the ribbon-cutting for the Cook Law Office, where people were saying they had used it and it had worked very well,” said Milledgeville Main Street Executive Director Carlee Schulte. “It’s a good way to hail a cab that allows you to [order a ride] on your phone, see where the cab is, and gives you a little more control over the whole process … It’s easy to use and it’s a safe way to get home without drinking and driving, so hopefully it might encourage people to: number one, come downtown more; and number two, to spend more money.” 

 

Founded in San Fransisco by entrepreneurs Logan Green and John Zimmer, for the past six years Lyft has been offering ride-sharing services to people within their coverage area. With net revenues that exceeded one billion dollars last year, some estimates peg the number of rides given by Lyft drivers each day at more than one million, and the past few years have seen the company explode into a market that was once dominated by its larger rival, Uber. For individual customers though, the service’s affordable pricing and convenience set it apart from traditional taxi services.

 “I take Lyft most frequently when I travel to other cities, but I take cabs here [in town], and the hardest part of taking a cab here is finding a reliable cab driver,” said Gerri Osborne, an employee at a downtown Milledgeville shop. “I have one cab driver in my phone that I have to call, because if you’re trying to flag someone down [on the street], it’s a whole battle. With Lyft, you can find a driver online, pay with your credit card without going to an ATM and paying a money withdrawal fee, and forget about it.”

 In addition to providing a more convenient and oftentimes cheaper way to hail a cab, Lyft also has the potential to help grow Milledgeville’s local economy. Aside from helping customers save money in many instances, Lyft also provides an employment opportunity for local residents and stands to benefit local business as well.

 

“I think it’s a good idea for people who want to come out for a drink and be responsible,” said Deepak Kumar, the owner of Milledgeville’s Metropolis Cafe. “I’m pretty sure the Milledgeville police are happy about that, and at the same time it helps solve the parking problem in that people don’t have to worry about parking their cars and moving them every two hours. I think it’s a good idea, and I think we need to campaign more to let people know Lyft is here.”

 While Lyft’s presence in Milledgeville may appear to target young people returning home from the downtown bars, the service’s affordability compared to traditional cab companies should appeal to customers well outside the city limits. In providing an inexpensive way for residents to get from place to place, Main Street’s Executive Director said Lyft should provide a noticeable boost to the local economy.

 “Beyond the students, I think that it’s a positive thing for the locals,” said Schulte. “From what 

I’ve seen, Lyft is very affordable, especially at the longer distances for people on the outskirts of the city or in the county. It seems like it would give an option to people who may not have considered getting a cab before to come downtown, and the interest of Main Street is to try and bring everybody to downtown, not just college students.”

 Attempts to reach several local cab companies for comment on this story were unsuccessful.