Sidecar beat both Lyft and Uber with people using their own cars. It launched in September 2011.
Uber launched UberX in June 2012. Lyft launched in June 2012.
Give Sidecar credit where it's due.
Re:Lyft Files for IPO
by jessriedel on Thursday December 06, 2018 @03:38PM
(#18621960)
I'm happy to, and in fact wasn't giving anyone credit for being first. I was just trying to point out that Lyft beat Uber.
To me, the key change deserving a new term was allowing completely independent, non-professional drivers, and I think Lyft beat Uber to that. (Heck, some purists would say "ride sharing" should be reserved for cases where the driver doesn't make an wages, just reimbursement for costs.)