Lyft CEO David Risher said on the company's third-quarter 2026 earnings call last Thursday that autonomous driving technology and robotaxis have not had a negative impact on the ride-hailing company's business.
Autonomous driving is driving Lyft's business growth
When asked on the call whether robotaxis are hurting Lyft's business in cities like Austin, Risher responded, "I'm not going to comment too much on individual specific markets." But he also said that in markets where autonomous vehicles have already launched, the company's business is actually still growing. "This is very important, and it confirms what we have always believed: autonomous driving is incremental business," Risher added. "Users like these kinds of products. At first, people may have concerns when they start using them, but after trying them, they feel the rides are safe, private, and so on."
However, he mentioned that autonomous fleets are generally still small in scale and scattered in layout, which can lead to longer wait times and various other problems, prompting users to choose Lyft's ride-hailing services again. "We continue to observe this phenomenon, and Austin is no exception," the CEO said.
Lyft will advance its robotaxi business around Baidu and Waymo
Speaking about Lyft's robotaxi business plans, Risher said the company will deepen its cooperation with Baidu's Apollo Go and Alphabet's Waymo. "We plan to choose a small number of partners to work with deeply. Baidu and Waymo are our main partners at this stage." He said other partners will be brought in in the future, but did not disclose specific names. He then introduced the two sides' cooperation in Nashville, Tennessee, which covers two major areas: fleet management and platform capacity sharing.
Risher revealed that Lyft will significantly expand the scale of Waymo's autonomous fleet in Nashville before the end of 2026. "In terms of fleet management, we operate a site of about 80,000 square feet, which was just put into use a month ago and is currently operating very well." He pointed out that the site is crucial for ensuring vehicles are ready to operate on the road at any time.
Lyft is also cooperating with Baidu's Apollo Go, launching autonomous mobility services in London through its FREENOW platform. Baidu's RT6 robotaxis are still conducting safety verification tests with safety officers on board. The two sides aim to officially launch commercial operations in 2027.
Lyft partners with DoorDash
On the earnings call, the company also introduced the Lyft Go membership program jointly launched with DoorDash, which links ride-hailing and food delivery benefits. Risher said, "Members can get an industry-leading 8% cashback in points, and the points can be used for both the ride-hailing platform and the food delivery platform." He added that users who already have DashPass only need to link their accounts to directly enjoy Lyft Go benefits. The membership costs $9.99 per month and offers free delivery on DoorDash orders.
Just as Lyft launched this membership product, Uber also officially announced a partnership with Amazon. In the United States, Amazon Prime members can directly access Uber Eats services in the app, and orders of $25 or more are eligible for free delivery.
Lyft's financial results
Lyft's third-quarter revenue was $1.822 billion, below the market expectation of $1.92 billion. Its loss per share was 3 cents, also missing the analyst consensus estimate of earnings of 18 cents per share. The company's ride-hailing completed orders rose 10% year over year to 273.5 million; gross bookings reached $5.6 billion, up sharply by 17% year over year.
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