Jessica Inman
Louisiana Market Manager, Lyft
It was only three years ago in April that the New Orleans City Council voted to allow ride-sharing companies into the city, and only a little over a year ago that Lyft joined Uber in the marketplace.
“We’ve only had a dedicated team on the ground since January of this year,” says Jessica Inman, Lyft’s market manager for Louisiana, who currently leads a team of five and growing.
The New Orleans native is tasked with the goal of overtaking Uber.
“Our goal is to gain 51 percent of the market share and we’re definitely getting there,” says Inman.
While she wouldn’t share the company’s current market share in Louisiana, in May an article in USA Today reported that, “some 48 million people will ride Uber this year in the United States, which is up 18 percent over 2017’s 40.7 million but lower than eMarketer’s original projection of 51.4 million. Rival Lyft will serve 29.9 million riders in 2018. That’s a 41 percent jump over 2017.”
Inman says the company’s strategy is to build up its local base in the region, in part by providing “a great experience for big events, which we know results in a bump in our market share.”
She has also been focused on creating local partnerships: Lyft is currently the official athletic sponsor for Louisiana State University, offers rides to participants of the Youth Empowerment Project and has partnered with the Urban League of Louisiana to help recruit and train drivers.
“It’s still difficult because Louisiana is one of the few states in the country where regulations vary from parish to parish, but we’re working on that,” she says. “It’s important to provide this kind of opportunity to people.”
