Lyft is turning Uber's missteps into an opportunity

Lyft casts itself as the softer, kinder alternative to Uber. But there's nothing gentle about the way the country's second-largest ride-hailing company is capitalizing on its chief rival's missteps. While Uber has been engulfed in months of turmoil, capped off Tuesday by the release of the findings of an investigation into workplace culture and news of founder Travis Kalanick's hiatus, Lyft has raised an additional $600 million in funding to fuel its expansion. It has announced a deal with Jaguar Land Rover to unveil a fleet of luxury vehicles, once Uber's forte, and announced self-driving car partnerships with General Motors and Google's parent company, Alphabet, which is suing Uber, accusing it of stealing trade secrets. And don't think for a second that Lyft wasn't giddy about the #DeleteUber campaign in January, when social media users lashed out at Uber for appearing to continue to offer service at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York during a taxi strike over President Trump's ban on travel from seven majority Muslim countries.