Weekly Roundup: Uber and Lyft Offer Gas Price Relief, but Drivers Say It's Not Enough

Gas prices top $4 nationally for the first time in four years and gig drivers say relief programs fall short. New York’s green Boro Taxis collapse to their lowest level ever. CBS News uncovers widespread Uber driver identity theft fraud. We break it all down for you.

Uber and Lyft Offer Gas Price Relief, but Drivers Say It’s Not Enough

Source: The New York Times

As the war in Iran pushes the national average gas price above $4 per gallon for the first time in four years (up from $3 just over a month ago) gig drivers say Uber, Lyft, and other app-based companies aren’t doing enough to offset the hit. Companies rolled out limited-time fuel relief programs including gas discounts through company debit cards, cash back through the Upside rewards app, and Uber’s expanded $4,000 EV grant, but drivers say the programs are impractical and don’t deliver meaningful relief.

• In 2022, when the Ukraine war spiked fuel prices, Lyft added a 55-cent-per-ride surcharge that went directly to drivers; Uber says it is not adding a fuel surcharge this time and doesn’t plan to raise rider fares.

• DoorDash increased its gas cash back from 2% to 10% through its debit card until April 26, but drivers say requiring a specific card or delayed Upside rewards limits the benefit.

• Drivers in Los Angeles face the added pressure of competing with Waymo driverless taxis on top of rising insurance and maintenance costs, and are calling for a per-ride or per-mile supplement from the platforms.

Up Against Uber and Lyft, Green Cabs Wither to Lowest-Ever Level in New York

Source: The City

New York City’s green Boro Taxis have collapsed to their lowest level ever, with just 539 working drivers in February, a 93% drop from 7,521 at their May 2015 peak, and daily trips plummeting nearly 98% from 57,637 to just 1,304. The green cabs, introduced in 2013 to serve neighborhoods outside Manhattan’s central business district, have been decimated by Uber, Lyft, and the more than 82,000 app-based vehicles now competing for passengers alongside nearly 11,000 yellow taxis.

• At their peak, green cab drivers averaged $114 per day from trips; by February that figure dropped to roughly $52 per day, squeezing drivers like 11-year veteran Syed Kabir who says there’s “no good business” left.

• High-volume for-hire vehicles like Uber and Lyft have recovered to nearly 99% of pre-pandemic trip levels and yellow taxis are at 47%, but green cabs sit at just 6.5%.

• A TLC pilot program that reactivated 3,509 green cab licenses saw active permits fall to just 441 by February, with an internal report concluding the business model is “of limited viability.”

Uber Driver Fraud Leads to Proposed California State Legislation Seeking Protection from Identity Theft

Source: CBS News

California Investigates has uncovered a growing number of Uber drivers using stolen identities to get hired, with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data showing nearly 400 identity theft complaints against Uber dating back to 2021 from victims nationwide who say they never drove for the company. California State Senator Josh Becker is now pushing new legislation to hold companies like Uber accountable, while two class-action lawsuits allege Uber doesn’t properly screen its drivers.

• Daniel Yanisse, CEO of background-check firm Checkr, said about half of all resumes contain some fake information and that the same stolen identity can be used by 20 to 40 different people to access the Uber platform.

• Checkr recently launched an identity verification tool that catches mismatched IDs and AI-generated selfies, while noting the federal government has no safeguard preventing the same Social Security number from being used across multiple driver accounts.

• Uber maintains it has “robust safeguards” and calls identity theft a “sophisticated, ever-evolving” issue impacting many industries, but the lawsuits argue the company is aware of the problem and hasn’t done enough to fix it.

Waymo Opens Robotaxi Service in Nashville, Partners with Lyft

Source: TechCrunch

Waymo launched its robotaxi service in Nashville, making it the company’s 11th city, with rides available to the public through the Waymo app in a 60-square-mile area served by “dozens of vehicles.” In a notable shift, Lyft is Waymo’s partner in Nashville, handling fleet services, vehicle readiness, and charging infrastructure through its Flexdrive subsidiary, unlike the Uber-partnered launches in Austin, Atlanta, and Phoenix.

• Nashville riders will initially hail rides through the Waymo app, with Lyft app integration coming later, a different model from Atlanta and Austin where customers must use the Uber app to be matched with a Waymo vehicle.

• Waymo now operates driverless ride-hailing services in 11 cities: Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, San Antonio, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Backed by $16 billion in new capital, Waymo’s expansion pace is accelerating, with a mixed approach to operations, partnering with Lyft, Uber, Avis, and Moove across different markets while operating largely independently in San Francisco.

Uber Deactivation Blunder: Chicago-Area Rideshare Driver Struggles After Account Wrongly Deactivated

Source: ABC7 Chicago

Uber is bankrolling a sweeping liability-reform push, including more than $30 million for a California ballot measure that would cap attorneys’ and medical providers’ share of crash settlements at 25%. Critics warn the measure will make contingency cases uneconomical, effectively restricting crash victims’ access to legal representation even as Uber faces thousands of sexual assault and injury lawsuits.

• Consumer advocacy groups, including Consumer Watchdog and the Consumer Attorneys of California, have assembled a $55 million war chest to fight the California measure; similar Uber-backed efforts in Nevada were blocked by the state supreme court, and an Indiana bill died in committee.

• Uber is pursuing related liability limits in Florida (lower between-trip insurance requirements) and New York, where Gov. Hochul has proposed a crash-settlement cap backed by Uber, which has directed $3 million to a PAC supporting her 2026 reelection campaign.

QUICK HITS

• Uber launched a campaign in Philadelphia to oppose a $1-per-ride tax on rideshare trips within the city. – Philadelphia Inquirer

• Uber made a deal to purchase Amazon AI chips. – TechCrunch

• Want to learn more about the robotaxi industry? Subscribe to The Driverless Digest, our new newsletter and podcast dedicated to the future of autonomous vehicles.

Must Listen Or Watch RSG Content

Here are this week’s featured podcast episode and YouTube videos:

• RSG268: Uber’s NEXT Big Move? Taxis!

• This Uber Alternative Might Get BANNED

• Stop Wasting Money on Gas (Do This Now)

• Uber Removes Wait Clock, Pay Tracking Questioned

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