Some interesting news going on in the Rideshare and Delivery app-based space this week. How the UK and US take on Uber from different angles, Uber and Lyft and always surging right now but drivers are not seeing any increase, Lyft $1,000 bonus for getting ex-drivers back on the road, latest AB5 polling results, Arizona says “No” to DoorDash and UberEats waiving delivery fees to black-owned businesses, Lyft puts a faster eBike on the road (look out!):
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QUARTZ: “Last week, Uber recognized a union of its own drivers in the UK. Up to 70,000 drivers in the UK will now have access to collective bargaining rights. Drivers will not be automatically enrolled in the union, and Uber will not engage in collective bargaining over earnings, reported the Financial Times, but the union will negotiate for holiday pay, pensions and a minimum wage. Uber’s food delivery workers are also not included in this ruling, which follows a UK Supreme Court decision that Uber drivers are workers, not independent contractors….” [read full article]
- New York Times: “As the coronavirus pandemic appears to recede in the United States and more people return to traveling, socializing and using ride-hailing apps, they are discovering that those cheap and quick rides have become more costly and not so readily available. Customers around the country say they have been startled by the price jumps. In some cases, they say, their Uber rides from airports cost as much as their plane tickets. Uber and its top rival, Lyft, acknowledge that prices are up and wait times are longer, but they won’t provide specifics. A recent analysis by the research firm Rakuten Intelligence found that the cost of a ride was 37 percent higher in March than it was a year ago. In April, the cost was up 40 percent….” [read full article]
- MarketPlace: “Evenings and weekends are busy again for Lyft driver Ignacio Cisneros. “I get rides immediately when I turn on the app. That only means that there’s a shortage in Lyft and Uber drivers,” he said. I waited half an hour for his Chrysler to arrive outside a Sacramento bar. The ride-hailing companies are offering new incentives to attract drivers, including Lyft’s $1,000 bonus for getting an ex-driver back on the road….” [read full article]
- Slate: “Trisha Hunt, a driver in Davenport, Iowa, says that her fares actually seemed to have decreased over the last few months. “When I first started doing Uber, I would average about $15 an hour, and lately I’m lucky to make minimum wage after gas prices, which in my state is $7.25 an hour,” Hunt said, who added that she hasn’t been receiving more money for surges, though customer service told her that it might be the result of a platform glitch. Riders have been complaining to her that they sometimes have to wait 45 minutes to get picked up, and she’s had a lot of repeat customers, likely due to the lack of drivers. Being one of the few drivers in the area, she’s been getting a lot of requests to go back and forth between a few different cities that are 10 to 15 miles away from each other. “Consider the gas involved in that and the pay diminishes, although I do drive a manual which gets better gas mileage than most,” Hunt said. She’s been relying on mostly doing trips, though, as she recently broke her leg and can’t do food deliveries….” [read full article]
- USCHAMBER.com: “The damage caused by AB 5 was so extensive that the California legislature was forced to pass bills exempting industry after industry before the proverbial ink was dry. After a concerted effort by the business community and countless independent contractors who organized themselves against AB 5, California voters had their say in November 2020, when they passed Proposition 22, which provides that drivers for app-based rideshare and delivery companies may remain independent contractors rather than employees if certain conditions are met. Six months later, new polling information suggests that Californians who work as independent contractors maintain their support for that decision. An independent research firm, Benneson Strategy Group, surveyed delivery people who have driven using the Uber or Uber Eats platform since January 2021 to gauge their sentiment, and the results were quite clear….” [read full article]
- CNET: “In Arizona, companies like Uber, DoorDash and Postmates will no longer be able to waive delivery fees for Black-owned restaurants. The Arizona attorney general’s office is settling with the companies after its civil rights division filed charges that waiving these fees was discriminatory against non-Black owned restaurants. “Even with the best of intentions, corporations can do the wrong thing. Altering the price of goods or services based on race is illegal,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Wednesday….” [read full article]
- SFWEEKLY: “These new bikes won’t have any gears. Instead, they’ll respond to the amount of force the rider applies to the pedals, and provide a commensurate amount of electric assistance. The bikes are more powerful than their predecessors, making for quicker acceleration, and easier travel up San Francisco’s many hills. They will, however, still top out 20 miles per hour on flat ground….” [read full article]
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