Better late than never I suppose - IMO the NYC launch was not very well executed. I didn't end up taking any rides opening night, but watched on the app through

Better late than never I suppose - IMO the NYC launch was not very well executed. I didn't end up taking any rides opening night, but watched on the app throughout the night. Supply basically vanished immediately - whether that's from extreme demand or insufficient drivers (or both) I'm not sure, but by about 8pm literally zero available drivers were in Lower Manhattan. You could not get a ride on Lyft on opening night - whatever the cause this is a pretty extraordinarily poor user experience. Surge fare also kicked in, which IMO should've been turned off during the launch period. It also wasn't clearly communicated - on the NYC subreddit numerous people complained about "mandatory tipping" without realizing this is analogous to Uber's surge fares (which are well-known locally). Overall the opening week was a poor showing for Lyft. Maybe this new program will turn it around, but at this point IMO they're playing PR catchup - anecdotally public interest in Lyft is pretty low around here.