Lyft's original idea was to give the American Red Cross and Houston shelter supervisors a way to coordinate rides during the Harvey disaster on a tight schedule. It also provided rides to evacuation centers during the California fires and after the mass shooting in Las Vegas. It's also part of Facebook's Community Help section for businesses and individuals in need, and works with Hitch Health to get in-need patients to doctors.

Lyft will continue with those programs, while expanding its non-crisis programs as well, it said. Much like Uber's Movement data service, it's a way to extend an olive branch to cities that are often hostile to ride services. Both companies, but particularly Uber, have been criticized, sued and fined for lax driver background checks and other problems.