On-demand car service Lyft has announced that it is acquiring Hitch, another on-demand car service focused on carpooling.

“John and Logan met the Hitch team over a year ago and as both teams talked, they realized they shared the same vision of connecting people through more affordable and efficient transportation options. Similar to Lyft, Hitch has always believed the shared rides experience is inherently social, and we’re excited that they’re joining the team to accelerate this movement together.”

With this acquisition, Hitch will be closing down. Hitch users will now have to sign up with Lyft.

“The Lyft team deeply shares our vision for collaborative transportation. They also value the impact and significance of community in making this dream a reality. Lyft is a perfect complement and together, we look forward to continuing to innovate in the transportation field. We’re only at the cusp of this movement with ridesharing, and we can’t wait to keep pushing the frontier,” says Hitch co-founders Snir Kodesh and Noam Szpiro. Lyft says that they will join the Lyft team.

Lyft makes no attempt to conceal the reasons for the buy – the company readily admits it’s to help bolster Lyft Line. You may remember that Lyft unveiled Lyft Line last month. It’s a carpooling service that allows users to share a single ride with people traveling on a similar path. Lyft says that this service can save riders up to 60 percent. Lyft launched Lyft Line on the exact same day that competitor Uber announced its own carpooling service, UberPool.

“Lyft Line is in its early stages, and we’re only beginning to see what we can do with shared rides. We have seen incredible growth and demand for Lyft Line in San Francisco, and the Hitch team and technology will help us move even faster to bring shared rides to more people,” says Lyft.

Image via Hitch, Facebook