Lyft is pushing hard to get more people to share rides, as well as expanding its connections with public transit and releasing a streamlined new app for passengers.

“We’re making a really strong commitment about shared rides,” said Joseph Okpaku, vice president of government relations, in an interview. In the 19 metropolitan areas where Lyft lets riders going the same direction split costs, about 35 percent of its rides are shared. “We think we can take that even further,” Okpaku said. “We’re making a commitment that by 2020, 50 percent of all Lyft rides will be shared.”

It’s adding features to encourage shared rides, such as suggestions of how a rider could walk a couple of blocks for the car-pool option. The shared-ride option, which has been called Lyft Line, will now have a more literal name: “Shared Rides.”

Passengers will see that new naming in the updated app, which will roll out this month.

“It’s a new look and feel with quite a bit of change to the overall flow and feature set,” said Katie Dill, vice president of design.

Currently, riders enter their preferred pickup spot when they open the app. Now, they’ll enter their destination first. Lyft can use that information along with GPS data on their current location to more quickly determine the most efficient ride.

The app is also customized based on passengers’ past behavior, for instance, offering a one-tap feature to select a frequent destination.

The post-ride screen, in which riders rate their drivers, has been simplified to encourage more feedback.

Lyft said it’s working to improve its integration with public transit, and now has partnered with more than 25 city transit agencies, including the Transportation Authority of Marin. That deal allows it to show riders public transit options for their destination, and to arrange a Lyft ride to and/or from a transit stop or station.

At a recent tech conference, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi outlined similar ambitions for his ride-hailing app, even proposing handling payment for rides on public transit as well.

Lyft is also expanding a pilot program to reduce vehicle impact. On busy Valencia Street in the Mission, it’s diverted pickups and dropoffs to locations on side streets, called “Lyft Spots.” It plans to add other Lyft Spots in coming weeks.

“In two short months, we’ve had over 20,000 rides diverted to those sites,” Okpaku said. “We’re making it easier for bicyclists and others to get down the road.”

Overall, Okpaku said, “We’re putting our money where our mouth is in working with cities to reduce the number of cars on the road. We believe Lyft and shared rides are extremely complementary to public transit.”

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @csaid