The new driver service seeks to challenge Uber and Lyft on City Rides

Blacklane aims to serve a narrow portion of the market that is aimed at business customers. It uses premium or luxury vehicles with driver and offers services such as luggage handling, opening doors for passengers and other services.

The transportation industry was hit hard by the pandemic when blockades stopped mass transit. Uber and Lyft said in February that travel bookings had halved in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year.

The industry has adapted. Uber’s food delivery service has helped it withstand its core offering. Blacklane’s new urban service is part of a similar effort, using existing drivers that previously only served airports to offer the same chauffeur-driven service for trips to the cities where they operate.

Although Uber and Lyft dominate the wider market, the much smaller Blacklane initially tried to cut a niche with an app that offered driver-driven trips to and from airports, which at most was available in 300 cities around the world.

This business stopped when the virus landed most air travel. Thus, in December, Blacklane began a long-distance service to the United States to attract business travelers wary of taking busy trains and short-haul flights. Travelers can book a Blacklane driver for a trip from New York to Boston for $ 399, about half the cost of an Uber or Lyft trip on the same route.

With the new downtown service, Blacklane hopes to attract the same business-conscious, security-conscious audience. It combines traditional and luxury limousine service with the convenience of a booking app.

“Depending on travel and airports, we were at the forefront of the pandemic,” said Wohltorf, who co-founded the company in 2011, saying the recovery from international travel was still on the far horizon. “But the cities have returned; they are mobile. There is a good recovery of urban mobility ”.

Wohltorf and his investors had targeted a potential initial public offering next year, but have postponed the plan until at least 2023, he said.

“The longer we wait, the more valuable it will be and the more impact we will have. There is no reason to be upset, “he said.

Last month, Blacklane acquired a majority stake in Havn, the all-electric chauffeur service launched by Jaguar Land Rover in 2019, to help Blacklane make a transition to an all-electric fleet.

Write to William Boston to [email protected]

Corrections and amplifications
Uber and Lyft said in February that travel bookings had dropped by half in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year. An earlier version of this article incorrectly implied that the statements were made in January. (Corrected February 28, 2021).