Photo via Lyft.
Photo via Lyft.

Lyft is expanding its carpool service, Lyft Line, to six new cities next week.

The expansion brings the service, which makes up half the company’s rides in some cities, to a total of 15 markets across the U.S.

Seattle will be the first to access Lyft Line on April 11, with five other fast-growing markets coming online throughout the week: Denver, Philadelphia, San Diego, Silicon Valley and Newark.

Lyft Line allows drivers to maximize efficiency by picking up multiple riders heading to similar areas. It also reduces the costs for riders, who pay less for rides with more people. The service will also be serving the top eight cities with the worst traffic in the country.

By driving multiple people in one car instead of two or three along the same route, Lyft Line also aims to reduce congestion.

The service will also be serving the top eight cities with the worst traffic in the country. By driving multiple people in one car instead of two or three along the same route, Lyft Line also aims to reduce congestion.

“Lyft’s mission is to make our communities better by bringing positive change to transportation — Lyft Line is the heart of that movement,” Lyft CEO Logan Green said in a statement. “Today’s news means that we now offer 25% of Americans the option to affordably share their rides through Lyft Line, which means fewer cars on the road across the U.S.”

Lyft Line is a return to familiar ground for Lyft founders Green and John Zimmer. The duo launched carpool-focused Zimride in 2007, eventually selling it to Enterprise Holdings before starting Lyft.

The company founded a Seattle engineering center last year, its first office outside San Francisco, and is looking to hire as many as 80 new employees in the area as it moves into a permanent 11,200 square-foot office at the National Building in Pioneer Square.

The arrival of Lyft Line comes just a couple weeks after the Port of Seattle authorized a one-year pilot program for ride-sharing pickups from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In that announcement, the Port Commisioners mentioned that Lyft would join the program when Lyft Line launches in the city in order to meet environmental requirements but didn’t provide a timeline for the launch.

UberPool, a similar carpooling service from competing rideshare provider Uber, launched in the city last week to meet the same environmental concerns for airport pickups. Uber also has its UberHOP service, which operates like a bus line with $5 rides, which was first piloted in Seattle and has since expanded to Toronto.

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