Denver Botanic Gardens sprang up as a "Trending Destination" for Lyft riders in the Mile High City area, according to a new list from the San Francisco-based ride-sharing company.
The botanic gardens in Cheesman Park was named as one of six Denver spots in The 2017 Lyftie Awards. The third annual awards, a Lyft spokeswoman said Thursday, are based on hundreds of thousands of rides taken by people using the app in the city.
Lyft staff selected two of the six categories specific to the Denver area including "Trending Destination" and "Only in Denver," said Gabe Cohen, general manager of Lyft Denver.
"We saw a huge increase in rides from the botanic gardens, and I think that's attributed to a few things," Cohen said. "The first is we're official partners with the botanic gardens. And the second is we're really starting to see people who maybe didn't use services like Lyft start to utilize it for events like weddings or to offset the need to park at a venue."
Cohen said his mom has started using Lyft to avoid parking near the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Other older adults as well as commuters, businesses, health care facilities and errand runners helped overall rides in Denver more than double this year, he said.
"The circle of who uses ride sharing is getting bigger and bigger and that's sort of reflected in the Lyfties this year," Cohen said.
Lyft declined to share the exact number of rides by Denver users overall and to each venue.
The faithful young, bar hopping car-sharing user hasn't disappeared as indicated by ViewHouse in the Ballpark section of Five Points being named the most visited bar. Avanti Food and Beverage in Highland was named the most visited restaurant. And the Pepsi Center in Auraria was named the most visited event venue.
The University of Colorado Boulder campus was the most visited university, according to Lyft.
Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre took home the "Only in Denver" Lyftie.
"For Only in Denver, we try to think of something that makes our region unique. Last year, it was Native Roots Dispensary," Cohen said. "This year we chose Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre ... It's, obviously, a very special place to our community."
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Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
