Nationwide ride-sharing service Lyft recently expanded its service area in Central Texas, launching in 10 new cities across the Hill Country region along Hwy. 281. Aaron Fox, general manager for Lyft's Central Texas region, said the expansion comes after research indicated population growth in the Hill Country area and a demand for the service. “[Lyft] came back to Austin May 29 and since then over 20,000 people have opened the app in [the Hill Country region],” Fox said. “There was an unmet demand there that we felt needed to be served.”   [caption id="attachment_266303" align="aligncenter" width="460"]Lyft Lyft expanded its Central Texas service area to the west of Austin along Hwy. 281.[/caption]   Fox said the Austin coverage area previously spanned San Marcos to Georgetown and out east toward Bastrop and Taylor. The new coverage area now includes areas to the west of Austin including all of Hwy. 281 from Canyon Lake through Johnson City, Horseshoe Bay and Burnet. The expansion service began Aug. 15. Fox said to celebrate, new users in the recently expanded area can use code ATXLYFT for $5 off their first 10 rides. “I hope that people are excited and will begin to use our service more,” Fox said. “Hopefully if they enjoyed our service as riders then maybe we can get a few drivers out of it as well.”