Amtrak is the latest big-name company to team up with Lyft. The rail service provider is bringing the company's ride-sharing services in-house for a new initiative that enables door-to-door travel bookings from the one smartphone app.
The newly-announced partnership will allow passengers using Amtrak's mobile app to also book a ride to and from the train station using Lyft's vehicles. According to Amtrak, the more than 360 communities that Lyft operates in across the US will reach 97 of Amtrak riders.
On one hand, it doesn't seem like that big a deal. What's the problem with just opening the Lyft or Uber app when you hop off the train at the station and going from there? But viewed in context, it does seem quite the savvy business move, with today's announcement following hot on the heels of Lyft's new partnerships with Disney, Taco Bell, General Motors and Jaguar Land Rover prior to that.
Being able to book an end-to-end journey within the one application might just be the seamless kind of experience that pushes Amtrak passengers in the direction of Lyft over its competitors, just as cashless smartphone transactions have pushed folks towards Uber over taxi cabs.
And that small foothold could mean big things as ride-hailing apps battle it out for urban traffic, of which the freshly-arrived faces at train terminals are invariably a great source. And to help things along, Lyft is offering new users who book with through the Amtrak app a $5 discount off their first four rides when using the code AMTRAKLYFT.
Source: Amtrak