“ Lyft feels like my baby because I was there on the day we launched .”
Collaborative Chats , a monthly event series that provided a platform for leading‐edge entrepreneurs to speak about their outlooks for the future . The series would eventually lead to her intersection with the founders of Zimride , a budding ridesharing service that came to rechristen itself as the pink mustachioed brand known as Lyft .
Months later , Castor was deep in the heart of the sharing economy , having left her job to become the newly‐launched Lyft ’ s community manager — as she puts it , the “ jack‐of‐all‐trades ” position . Castor did everything from creating trust and safety protocols , to managing marketing efforts and negotiating a new regulatory framework for a never‐before‐seen service .
“ It ’ s pretty surreal ,” Castor says , recalling those early days . “ Lyft feels like my baby because I was there on the day we launched . We used to know all the drivers by name . They would come into the office and eat snacks and use the bathroom .”
Lyft ’ s explosive growth was a challenge for Castor , who had to professionally grow as quickly as the company in order to operate at such complex scales . Now as Lyft ’ s director of transportation policy , Castor leads partnerships with transportation agencies to solve transit issues in cities nationwide . And with legislation gradually adjusting to the times , she can sense the shift of air in those meeting rooms .
“ There is a desire and enthusiasm on both sides for us to identify ways the public sector can leverage Lyft to reshape transportation behavior and make cities more sustainable ,” Castor says .
Those are the benefits that comprise Castor ’ s vision for the future . By expanding access to mobility on‐demand , Castor believes Lyft could massively reduce the need for car ownership . And with electric , self‐driving cars on the horizon , factoring ridesharing into the equation allows for even greater efficiencies . After all , Castor points out , cars sit idle for 95 percent of their lives , and 80 percent of their seats are empty when they ’ re on the road .
Resolving these issues could greatly reduce our environmental impact , curb traffic , and alleviate the eternal struggle of parking ( something most Tritons will know well ). More dramatically , Castor believes this innovation could transform the physical landscape of our communities . “ The need for people to live in this suburban form that we currently have , where you need a two‐car garage and wide roads where you can ’ t have walkable streets — that will change ,” Castor predicts . “ We ’ ll be able to live in more livable communities that are oriented around people , instead of around cars .”
WHILE LYFT and the sharing economy may change communities in the future , it is currently having an impact on individuals ’ lives . “ It ’ s equally important to look at the income opportunities on the driver ’ s side and see how that is transformative — because it ’ s really so different than the traditional model for work ,” Castor says . “ When you look at the way that people have had access to income opportunities in the past , it ’ s been structured and rigid , in 40‐hour‐per‐week packages and long‐term commitments .”
Castor cites how the sharing economy instead allows for a “ democratization ” of the work experience , a concept she ardently believes in . As Lyft drivers and others in the sharing framework can work when they want , however long they want , this financial leeway allows people to pursue their passions or take entrepreneurial chances . An aspiring photographer , for instance , has a fallback when clients are running low — she can parlay her car or apartment or other pre‐owned resources into a dependable income stream .
“ That just wasn ’ t possible before with traditional forms of employment , where you were mandated to be present for a rigid number of hours ,” Castor says . “ I think that serves as a new form of safety net for people in the modern economy .”
As shifts like these begin to happen small and large , culturally and institutionally , economically and conceptually , the only sure thing is that even bigger changes are coming . And it is up to Tritons like Castor to see them , inside Lyft and other companies in this young , robust market where the possibilities appear endless . By the next decade , maybe only half of those reading this article will own a vehicle . Perhaps we will call on an automated car whenever and wherever one is needed . There ’ s no telling how different our world might look when an unprecedented economic form is introduced . But when we look back once it ’ s said and done , we can say that Castor had a hand in making it all happen .
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