The company has no plans or need to focus on the U.S. market, Mssrs. Mazzella and Brusson said. They explained that in the U.S. the cost of car ownership and fuel is still relatively low, so many city-to-city travelers or commuters have a ride of their own, or one they can easily rent or borrow. Otherwise, U.S. geography and topography make longer-distance ridesharing less appealing, they said. The distance between U.S. cities is so great that many travelers have to book a flight to reach their destination in time, they said. In fact, Lyft and others have tried but failed to popularize pay-to-carpool marketplaces in the U.S. Lyft rebranded and sold its carpooling business, ZimRide, to Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co. last year to focus on its ride-hailing business.

French Company BlaBlaCar Raises $100M to Make Ride-Sharing Easy - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ Monday, July 7, 2014 @ 5:34pm