It's Not Enough for Lyft to Be Nicer

As Uber fitfully tries to reset its bad fortunes--see the recent intrigue in its search for a new CEO--Lyft is trying its hardest to catch up with its rival. Beyond positioning itself as the convenient ride-hailing company that isn't afflicted by a toxic tech-bro culture and also keeps an eye out for its drivers (it's allowed riders to tip drivers for years), Lyft wants to show that it can beat Uber at some of its other endeavors, including the most important one of all: innovating at the bleeding edge of transportation technology. While Uber has faced scandals, internal squabbles, and even a messy legal battle with Google's parent Alphabet over whether it stole aspects of its self-driving cars technology, Lyft has launched ambitious partnerships in that field with General Motors and even with Alphabet.