It's the end of the road for Sidecar. The ride-service company's co-founders announced today it would cease operations on New Year's Eve.
At one point, Sidecar -- along with Uber and Lyft -- was one of the Big 3 ride-hailing firms. When we first started covering the industry in November 2013, we spoke to a driver who said he made an average of $30 an hour driving 20-25 hours per week for the company.
“I just had my 1,000th ride this year and I love it,” he said.
But the good times didn't last. In 2014 I talked to one driver who simultaneously worked for all three companies; he said he received nary a customer from Sidecar over a weeklong period. Eventually, the media stopped mentioning the company alongside Uber and Lyft.
Today Sidecar co-founders Sunil Paul and Jahan Khanna said in a post on Medium that the company would end both its ride and delivery service, the latter of which it launched in February.