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- 📰 Weekly Roundup: Uber Tightens Driver Background Checks
📰 Weekly Roundup: Uber Tightens Driver Background Checks
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Weekly Roundup: Uber Tightens Driver Background Checks
Uber is overhauling its driver background checks. Uber and Waymo just pulled the plug on their Phoenix robotaxi deal. A privacy-first rideshare company is fighting New York City over who gets access to trip data. A new study shows just how much is going to insurance. A bipartisan group in Congress is trying to block a legal shield for the rideshare giants. We break it all down for you.
Uber Tightens Driver Background Checks
Image credit: Uber Newsroom
Source: The New York Times
Uber announced sweeping changes to its driver background checks after a New York Times investigation found the company had approved drivers with violent felony convictions in 22 states, some of whom were later accused of sexually assaulting passengers. The new rules permanently disqualify anyone convicted of a violent felony, a sexual crime, stalking, or a strangulation offense at any point in their life.
Previously Uber barred only a short list of crimes and cleared most other felonies if the conviction was at least seven years old. Background checks in 35 states also looked only at where a driver lived in the prior seven years; now they cover everywhere a driver has ever lived, and current drivers get rechecked every year.
The rules also apply to Uber Eats couriers. About 2,000 longtime drivers with convictions more than 15 years old, not sexual in nature, and no serious safety complaints will be allowed to keep driving.
Uber faces more than 3,000 passenger sexual-assault lawsuits and a new shareholder suit accusing leadership of compliance failures. The move follows tighter rideshare laws in Virginia, Colorado, and California.
Uber, Waymo End Their Phoenix Robotaxi Partnership
Image credit: Uber newsroom
Source: Reuters
Uber and Waymo have ended their self-driving partnership in Phoenix, where Waymo cars had been available through Uber's ride-hailing and delivery apps since 2023. Uber says it is preparing to launch a separate autonomous-vehicle partnership in the city but has not named the new partner.
Waymo has already folded the Phoenix pilot cars back into its own fleet, where riders can still book them through the Waymo app. The pilot was small, reaching just over a dozen vehicles.
Waymo cars remain available on Uber in Austin and Atlanta.
The split follows Waymo’s recall of nearly 3,900 robotaxis over a software issue that could send the cars into a closed freeway construction zone and keep driving.
Image credit: Denil Dominic/Pexels
Source: Cato Institute
Wheely, a London-based for-hire vehicle company built around passenger privacy, is challenging a New York City rule that requires every licensed for-hire base to hand the city a full record of each completed trip, every month. Wheely says the mandate mirrors the Russian demand for passenger location data that pushed it out of Moscow.
Wheely argues the rule is an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment. A district court upheld it, ruling the for-hire industry is closely regulated; Wheely has appealed to the Second Circuit, where Cato filed a brief backing the challenge.
The trip data would sit in a centralized city database open to Taxi and Limousine Commission staff, with no warrant and no end date.
Cato warns the ruling could let any regulator impose continuous location tracking with no judicial oversight, reaching well beyond rideshare.
Insurance Now Eats 21% of Every Rideshare Fare
Image credit: Rachel Claire/Pexels
Source: PropertyCasualty360
Insurance accounts for 21% of what riders pay for a trip, roughly one dollar of every five, according to a new Gridwise Analytics study. That makes it one of the largest costs in a fare, behind base driver pay at 53.3% and platform fees at 14.9%.
Uber and Lyft charge similar average insurance prices, but the share of a fare going to insurance varies by ride type, distance, time of day, and ZIP code. Black SUV and Comfort rides carry the highest premiums.
The West is the most expensive region for rideshare insurance and the Midwest the cheapest. California rule changes that lowered mandated coverage cut Western insurance costs 20.6% over the past year, but rider prices there still rose 3.4% as platform fees jumped 29.1%.
In Chicago, the 20 poorest ZIP codes pay 37.6% higher insurance costs per trip than the rest of the metro, even on similar-distance rides. Overall, average insurance expense fell about 5% for both Uber and Lyft over the past year.
Image credit: Ivan Dražić/Pexels
Source: Yahoo News
A bipartisan group of 21 lawmakers is pressing House leadership to strip a provision from a surface transportation bill that would shield rideshare companies from liability for injuries, sexual assaults, and deaths that happen during rides.
The letter, led by Reps. Derek Tran (D-Calif.) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), says Americans should keep the right to sue if a rideshare company fails to protect its customers or drivers.
They are targeting an amendment from Rep. Vince Fong (R-Calif.) that would limit the companies’ vicarious liability, with exceptions for gross negligence or criminal wrongdoing.
Fong has promoted the measure as a way to lower rideshare costs by curbing litigation, and says companies would still be liable for their own negligence or misconduct.
QUICK HITS
Alex Bitter of Business Insider revealed how much Uber pays its product managers, software engineers, and other tech and office workers. – Business Insider
Scooter and e-bike rental company Lime, backed by Uber, went public on Nasdaq. – Reuters
For more coverage of the autonomous-vehicle industry, subscribe to The Driverless Digest, Harry’s newsletter and podcast covering robotaxis and AVs.
Must Listen Or Watch RSG Content
Here are this week’s featured podcast episode and YouTube videos:
RSG269: This $12K EV Could Change Uber Driving Forever With Bingo Tech
Thousands of Uber Drivers Could Be Removed With 99 Year Background Checks
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