Where Is Lyft Available? Service Coming To 100 New Cities By End of 2017

Lyft Amp HERO — Lyft announces a new campaign and major branding change Nov. 15, 2016. Courtesy of Lyft

Lyft plans to expand its U.S. operations and begin coverage in 100 additional cities this year, according to a report from Business Insider.

The move is intended to bolster the driving service’s presence among U.S. users, at it’ll bring Lyft services to 300 cities in total by the end of the year. As Business Insider notes, Lyft plans to launch in 40 of its planned 100 cities Thursday. New locations include smaller to midsized cities such as Yuba City, Calif. and Baton Rouge, La. in 14 different states. Lyft’s 40-city launch Thursday is equal to the number of cities Lyft launched in throughout all of 2016.

Lyft’s aggressive moves for growth look to narrow the gap versus primary competitor Uber. As Engadget notes, Uber has benefited from a better international presence and a larger coverage area than Lyft.

At the same time, both services have frequently butted heads with each other and outside parties in their continued fight to dominate the ride-sharing market. Uber and Lyft had to leave Austin, Texas last year after losing a referendum and have frequently been in court for disputes over how it generally classifies employees as independent contractors. As both companies ramp up investments and coverage areas in the coming year and focus on revenue growth, it remains to be seen how these issues will be affected.

Via Business Insider, here’s a full list of cities Lyft will launch in Thursday: