Lyft Confirms Talks With Carey International

SAN FRANCISCO -- A Lyft spokesman told LCT July 7 the transportation network company (TNC) is having "early-stage conversations" with Carey International. He declined to specify the scope or extent of those talks.

The spokesman, who asked not to be named, insisted this statement be posted in its entirety: "We're always looking at potential partnerships to achieve our mission of reconnecting people and communities through better transportation. We've had initial, early-stage conversations with Carey, but there is nothing more to share at this time."

Lyft's statement matches the comments from Carey CEO Gary Kessler who told LCT July 5 that Carey and Lyft were having “exploratory conversations."

The responses follow the disclosure of an email from Kessler discussing hard specifics of a possible partnership. The intended recipient, Lyft director of enterprise partnerships Amit Patel, declined through the spokesman to answer questions from LCT. Kessler has acknowledged the email, but would not discuss it further.

The spokesman also said Lyft would not comment on its policies or positions related to fingerprint-based driver background checks. The National Limousine Association supports rules that would require them for TNCs to better weed out drivers with criminal records.