Lyft · USD · per mile
Lyft fare estimate in San Francisco
Imported rate components for San Francisco - base, distance, time and booking fees - applied with the same routing stack as our taxi calculator. Surge is unknowable off-app; we publish a lower and upper band.
San Francisco Lyft rate sheet (modeled)
| Product | Lyft |
|---|---|
| Base fare | $2.25 |
| Per mile | $1.55 |
| Per minute | $0.36 |
| Booking fee | $3.45 |
| Minimum fare | $9.15 |
Reference trip (same as taxi compare)
5.0 mi · 15m · free-flow routing
- Lyft (Lyft)
- $18.81
- $17.86 – $30.09 surge band
- Metered taxi (standard)
- $27.87
- $25.81 – $35.37 traffic band
Live calculator
Addresses default to San Francisco's country for autocomplete. Taxi + full rideshare comparison appears after you route a trip.
Route in San Francisco
Compare Lyft, taxi and other apps on identical GPS distance.
FAQ
How much does Lyft cost in San Francisco?
Typical Lyft fares combine a base fare, a per-distance component and a per-minute time charge (shown in the table below). The live calculator applies OpenStreetMap distance for your exact trip.
Is Lyft cheaper than a taxi in San Francisco?
Often yes outside surge windows - see the reference-trip comparison on this page against the metered taxi tariff where we publish one. Airport flat taxi fares can flip that calculus.
What about tolls and airport fees?
Tolls, airport surcharges and cancellation fees are imposed by the route or airport authority - add them mentally on top of the estimate shown here.
Where do the San Francisco numbers come from?
Rate components are maintained in our version-controlled dataset and refreshed periodically from public sources and receipt-derived benchmarks - they are not scraped live from Lyft's servers.