Paper ID: 2310.13810

A Better Match for Drivers and Riders: Reinforcement Learning at Lyft

Xabi Azagirre, Akshay Balwally, Guillaume Candeli, Nicholas Chamandy, Benjamin Han, Alona King, Hyungjun Lee, Martin Loncaric, Sebastien Martin, Vijay Narasiman, Zhiwei, Qin, Baptiste Richard, Sara Smoot, Sean Taylor, Garrett van Ryzin, Di Wu, Fei Yu, Alex Zamoshchin

To better match drivers to riders in our ridesharing application, we revised Lyft's core matching algorithm. We use a novel online reinforcement learning approach that estimates the future earnings of drivers in real time and use this information to find more efficient matches. This change was the first documented implementation of a ridesharing matching algorithm that can learn and improve in real time. We evaluated the new approach during weeks of switchback experimentation in most Lyft markets, and estimated how it benefited drivers, riders, and the platform. In particular, it enabled our drivers to serve millions of additional riders each year, leading to more than $30 million per year in incremental revenue. Lyft rolled out the algorithm globally in 2021.

Submitted: Oct 20, 2023