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Lyft arrives in the Mid-Ohio Valley

Photo Provided Smart phone users can now utilize the ride-sharing app Lyft in the Parkersburg area.

PARKERSBURG — A popular ride-sharing service officially entered the Mid-Ohio Valley market Thursday.

Lyft announced on its blog, blog.lyft.com, that it was expanding to more than 50 cities Thursday, including Parkersburg. According to the map on the website, the service area also includes Vienna, Williamstown, Belpre, Marietta, Harrisville, Pennsboro and Newport.

Smart phone users can use the Lyft app to request a ride and be matched with a Lyft driver. Once the ride is over, they pay via their phone.

A law passed last year allowed companies like Lyft and Uber to operate in the Mountain State.

Greater Parkersburg Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Mark Lewis noted that the area has taxis but ride-sharing services are becoming more widespread.

“It’s one of those things that people all over the country are getting used to,” he said. “It seems to me that those additional options are probably a good thing in terms of tourism.”

The arrival of Lyft is appreciated by 2010 Parkersburg South High School graduate Logan Smith, who is originally from the Parkersburg area but now lives in Los Angeles. Before that, he lived in Pittsburgh. Ride-sharing services operated in both cities.

“They’re really cool, super convenient,” Smith said. “I’ve always had a car, but in Los Angeles I’d take them somewhere if I was drinking or going somewhere with terrible parking.”

Smith even took one to the emergency room last year, and wound up having his appendix removed.

Smith is back in the area visiting, and although he drove this time, he’s excited to see the service come to the area.

“It’s really cool that it’s available. It could be great for certain people,” he said.

Thursday’s announcement came after Lyft expanded to 40 additional cities in January.

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