Weekly Roundup: Investigation Discovers Uber, Lyft and DoorDash Accounts Being Rented and Sold Online

Uber, Lyft and DoorDash accounts being bought and rented openly online. Lyft is rolling out an AI “Earnings Assistant,” but does it actually make money for drivers? Rideshare companies are bracing for a World Cup surge. Tesla’s robotaxi fares in San Francisco have climbed 41%. DoorDash might be looking to compete with Toast and Clover point-of-sale systems. We break it all down for you.

Investigation Discovers Uber, Lyft and DoorDash Accounts Being Rented and Sold Online

Source: CBS News

A CBS News investigation has exposed the ongoing practice of drivers and couriers on Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Uber Eats openly using accounts that don’t belong to them. Reporters discovered accounts listed for rent or sale on Facebook Marketplace and Instagram, with sellers casually offering to bypass background checks and assuring buyers that a driver’s license was “no problem.” The findings build on ongoing reporting from The Rideshare Guy, which has tracked this phenomenon from its inception.

• Sergio Avedian, contributor to The Rideshare Guy, said he could buy stolen-identity accounts for a few hundred dollars and that most renters likely wouldn’t pass a background check on their own.

• In CBS LA’s own test of eight deliveries, two DoorDash drivers didn’t match the in-app photo. A California passenger said a driver who didn’t match the profile tried to force his way into his RV, before backing off when the passenger drew a firearm.

• Uber, Lyft and DoorDash all said account sharing violates their policies and that they removed the accounts identified, but acknowledged identity fraud is an ongoing challenge.

Rideshare Companies Brace for World Cup Surge

Source: The Dallas Morning News

With the World Cup less than a month away, Uber, Lyft, Alto and Waymo are finalizing plans for the tourist surge across World Cup soccer stadiums. For instance, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas will run designated pick-up and drop-off lots. With higher toll prices, congested roads and a strained transit system, demand for rideshare in some areas should run hot. Uber’s senior director of federal affairs Javier Correoso suggested fans “wait a little bit” after games for prices to stabilize.

• Uber, which has more than 200 million monthly active users globally, says it is staffing up “thousands of drivers in Dallas” for the tournament; its autonomous partner Avride will serve the FIFA Fan Festival at Fair Park.

• Alto, the luxury EV ride-hail that employs its own drivers, is leaning into its end-to-end hospitality model. Founder Will Coleman says riders “know exactly what to expect on every ride.”

• Waymo, which covers about 50 square miles of Dallas, will serve the city during the World Cup, but has no plans yet to expand its fleet to Arlington for the games.

Lyft Widens ‘Earnings Assistant’ AI Tool Roll Out. But Does It Actually Make Drivers More Money?

Source: Business Insider

Lyft has spent the past year quietly rolling out Earnings Assistant, an AI feature that coaches drivers on where and when to drive. The tool has two modes: plan guidance, live in the US and aimed at new drivers laying out a shift, and real-time guidance, currently in testing, which pings drivers when rides are spiking nearby. Uber is beta-testing a similar tool of its own.

• However, at least one driver who has used the tool said, “So far it’s absolutely useless, and this is coming from a devout AI enthusiast.”

• Lyft senior staff software engineer Xiaoyi Duan said the goal is to translate raw in-app signals into personalized recommendations, since the existing signals aren’t tailored to any one driver’s situation.

• The company tested Earnings Assistant with drivers near Santa Clara during February’s Super Bowl and at driver events in Dallas, Las Vegas and Miami last fall.

Tesla Robotaxi Fares in San Francisco Up 41%, But Still the Cheapest Option

Source: The Buzz EV News

New data from rideshare price-comparison app Obi shows Tesla’s robotaxi prices in San Francisco rose 41% between December and Obi’s March 1-April 14 measurement window. Despite the jump, Tesla is still the cheapest option in the city, roughly half the price of Waymo and meaningfully under Uber and Lyft on a per-mile basis. Obi CEO Ashwini Anburajan said Tesla’s pricing is shifting from a customer-acquisition strategy to a more market-rate model while keeping a clear cost advantage.

• Over the same period, Waymo prices rose 18%, Lyft 12% and Uber 5%; per-mile rates for Uber and Lyft dipped slightly because the legacy providers handle a disproportionate share of long rides.

• Tesla’s daily average prices now range from roughly $8 to more than $14, signaling more dynamic pricing than the flat fares Obi observed in its January report.

• Tesla’s robotaxi service still operates with a safety driver in each vehicle, per Obi’s data.

DoorDash’s POS Ambitions Could Squeeze Toast, Rothschild Analyst Says

Source: Bloomberg (Paywall free)

Analysts are cutting ratings point-of-sale systems, like Toast to neutral from buy, citing merchant feedback that point to DoorDash quietly building an in-store restaurant POS product. Ball forecasts DoorDash could scale from 0% to 20% of US restaurant locations by 2035, threatening Toast’s win rates. Toast shares fell as much as 5.2% to $22.93 on the news; Ball cut his price target from $47 to $35.

• DoorDash, already the largest US food-delivery app, has been expanding into autonomous delivery bots, international markets and new categories such as groceries, electronics, apparel and car parts.

• It debuted a smart scale last year to cut missing-item claims and bought restaurant-reservation startup SevenRooms for $1.2 billion.

• DoorDash hasn’t formally announced the POS product, but Ball wrote that his conviction came from “extensive channel checks, product evidence, hiring activity and merchant feedback.”

QUICK HITS

• Uber executives are starting to be more critical of Waymo, as the Alphabet-owned robotaxi company begins to work with other partners on robotaxi launches. – ELECTREK

• Some Waymo vehicles use Atlanta-area neighborhoods as staging environments. – Atlanta News First

• Uber is opening two new campuses in India centered around product development and operations. – 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!

• Uber Is Quietly Becoming WAY Bigger Than Rideshare

• Is Uber Trying To Stop Drivers From Taking Screenshots?

• Uber’s Algorithm May Finally Be Improving…

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