While facebook validation is possibly helpful in some cases, I'd imagine it's relatively trivial to create a fake facebook account. Lyft's success so far probab

While facebook validation is possibly helpful in some cases, I'd imagine it's relatively trivial to create a fake facebook account. Lyft's success so far probably hasn't had much to do with the pre-verification (which is flimsy at best). Their success is probably driven by the fact that they've found a small subset of the US population who is comfortable with "ride sharing". Their branding; with pink mustaches, fist bumps, riding in the front seat and a sense of "community" (presumably going through that ritual with another makes you part of an exclusive community), has self-selected a group of people who is comfortable with giving up some level of trust, in return for the ability to participate in their transportation marketplace. That said, I think we see taxis in most cities actively avoid areas that could cause trouble. From anecdotal reports, the same isn't true of Lyft. The implied trust (facebook verification and sense of community) likely puts those drivers in more dangerous situations more often (although it's a group who is either comfortable with that, or hasn't thought it through). There's also an open question as to whether or not their trust system can scale. While initial marketing can help you pitch to a select group to start with, can that effectively reach a larger audience? Fun and quirky might be antithetical to the safety and reliability concerns most of the general public probably has for their preferred transportation system.