The city of Denver is teaming up with Lyft to make it easier for the growing crowds at Red Rocks, the Denver Performing Arts Complex and other popular venues around town to find their rides once the show is over.
Denver Arts & Venues said Lyft is its new official ride-share partner at city-owned and operated arts and entertainment sites, including Red Rocks, the arts complex, the Colorado Convention Center, the Denver Coliseum and McNichols Civic Center Building.
Under the three-year agreement, Lyft will pay $80,000 annually for the marketing rights, Denver Arts & Venues spokesman Brian Kitts said Friday. Lyft will have designated pick-up and drop-off sites.
The ride-share company will also have “ambassadors” on hand at Red Rocks to help connect people to their rides. Kitts said that feature gave Lyft an edge in landing the partnership.
“If you call for a ride share at Red Rocks the car may have been down on Morrison Road and you’re stumbling around in the dark,” Kitts said. “What it hopefully does is clean up some of the confusion before and after shows and also provide an alternative to driving downtown and parking.”
The potential for missing a ride can be high once a concert or play is finished and the crowds stream out of Red Rocks or onto Denver streets. Kitts said just over a million people a year attend events at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1.3 million see shows at Red Rocks and a little under 1 million attend conferences and other events at the Colorado Convention Center.
Uber, which submitted a proposal to the city, will still provide service at the sites as usual, spokeswoman Stephanie Sedlak said.
Gabe Cohen, Lyft Rockies Region general manager, said in a statement that the company is excited “to help enhance the experience” at some of the country’s most vibrant and beautiful city-owned cultural venues.
Lyft’s number of passengers and rides has increased 60 percent from last year, spokeswoman Darcy Yee said. The company’s total percentage of the ride-sharing business wasn’t available.
Uber is the official ride-hailing service for the Colorado Rockies, University of Denver athletics and several events, including the Great American Beer Fesitival and the Grandoozy arts and music festival Sept. 14-16, Sedlak said.
Sedlak said figures on Uber’s share of the Denver-metro business weren’t available.