Uber arch-rival Lyft quietly met with London regulators 5 times over the last year

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LONDON — Uber's arch-rival Lyft has quietly met with London's transport regulators five times over the past 12 months.

The meetings, some of which took place over the phone and some in person, suggest that the American transportation firm is at least considering the possibility of expanding to the British capital.

Details of the meetings were disclosed in a freedom of information (FOI) request from July 2017, and The Telegraph recently highlighted them in an article.

(It's not clear if TfL and Lyft have met again since July; the regulator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

If Lyft did expand to London, it'd be a major additional headache for Uber in the city. Last week, TfL declined to renew Uber's license to operate, saying it is not "fit and proper" to hold one. The ride-hailing company is appealing the decision, and almost 750,000 people have signed a petition in support of it.

Uber's headaches don't stop there. Later this week, a tribunal will hear its appeal against a ruling over the employment status of its drivers. And the company has been hit by a string of scandals ranging from allegations of a sexist corporate culture to the use of a "Greyball" tool to deceive regulators around the world, culminating in the ousting of then-CEO Travis Kalanick by investors.

Lyft is currently only available in the US, and has not publicly said it plans to move to London (it didn't immediately respond to a request for comment). But its market share has grown in recent months as Uber has struggled, and is reportedly considering its first non-US cities in Canada.

Senior Lyft employees have met with TfL representatives, including chief strategy officer Raj Kapoor and head of global policy and strategy Mike Masserman. The TfL reps included director of transportation innovation Michael Hurwitz, general manager of taxi and private hire Helen Chapman, and head of strategy, technology, and data Matthew Hudson.

In a meeting in December 2016, "Lyft presented their business model that is in operation elsewhere in the world," the FOI response said. In another, the attendees discussed "the development of the Mayor's Transport Strategy."

Here are the full details of the meetings, via the FOI:

Date: 21/22 November 2016

Background: Michael Hurwitz (Director of Transport Innovation, Surface Transport) attended the ITF-OECD International Workshop on New Mobility and Public Transport in San Francisco. Emily Castor from Lyft was also in attendance at this meeting.

Date: 8 December 2016 – 1 Hour

Attendees: TfL – Michael Hurwitz / Helen Chapman (General Manager, Taxi & Private Hire) / Peter Blake (Director of Service Operations in Surface Transport) / Matthew Hudson (Head of Strategy, Technology & Data)

Lyft – Raj Kapoor, Mike Masserman

GLA – Three attendees from the GLA were also present

Details No minutes or actions were recorded from this meeting. Lyft presented their business model that is in operation elsewhere in the world.

Date: 20 December 2016 – 30 minute Telephone conversation

Attendees: TfL – Michael Hurwitz

Lyft – Raj Kapoor / Mike Masserman

Details: No minutes or actions were recorded from this meeting. The conversation was around the development of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS).

Date: January - Telephone conversation

Attendees: TfL – Michael Hurwitz

Lyft - Michael Masserman

Details Discussions to understand Demand Responsive Transport business models - as part of the process to develop the MTS. No minutes or actions were recorded from this meeting.

Date: 6 March 2017 –

Attendees: TfL – Michael Hurwitz

Lyft – Raj Kapoor / Mike Masserman

Details: This meeting took place during a business trip to New York. Lyft provided an update to TfL on their ongoing business strategy. No minutes or actions were recorded from this meeting.

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