Weekly Roundup: Uber Introduces New Features at Its Annual Go-Get Event

Uber introduces new features. Hertz and Uber join forces to run its robotaxi fleet. Uber Eats said it will introduce a tip guarantee to end post-delivery tip baiting on most food orders. Colorado lawmakers proposed a bill requiring rideshare background checks every six months and forcing Uber and Lyft to disclose raw incident data. We break it all down for you.

Uber Introduces New Features at Its Annual Go-Get Event

Source: CNBC

Uber introduced a slate of new features at its annual Go-Get event in New York, including “Eats for the Way,” a service that will have rideshare drivers to pick up an Uber Eats order, such as a Starbucks coffee, before collecting certain passengers. The order is intended to be waiting in the vehicle at pickup. The company also introduced Shop for Me, hotel bookings via Expedia, a new Travel Mode, and a voice booking chatbot. The announcements are part of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s strategy to position Uber as a so-called everything app.

• “Eats for the Way” adds a stop to the rideshare trip. It is unclear how time and pay for the pickup leg will be structured, whether drivers can decline the request, or how strict the timing is. The feature launches in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, and Austin in the coming weeks for Uber Black and Black SUV riders.

• “Shop for Me” lets passengers request items from any store, including those not listed on the Uber app, by sending photos to a personal shopper who buys and delivers the items. The model echoes the original Postmates approach from a decade ago (Uber eventually acquired Postmates).

• The hotel feature includes more than 700,000 Expedia properties at launch, with Vrbo home rentals to follow. Travel Mode offers localized recommendations, and the voice booking chatbot is powered by OpenAI. The expansions are part of Uber’s everything app pitch, though none directly address driver and courier compensation.

Uber Taps Hertz to Run Its Lucid Robotaxi Fleet, SF Launch Eyed for End of 2026

Source: TechCrunch

Hertz has joined Uber’s planned Bay Area robotaxi service as a fourth partner, alongside Lucid Motors, which supplies the Gravity SUVs, and Nuro, which provides the autonomous driving system. Hertz, through a new affiliate called Oro Mobility, will handle charging, cleaning, maintenance, repairs, and depot staffing. The service is scheduled to launch in San Francisco by the end of 2026, and the companies said they will explore expansion in 2027.

• Uber owns more than 11% of Lucid Motors and has committed to ordering at least 35,000 robotaxi-ready vehicles. The order includes 10,000 Gravity SUVs and 25,000 vehicles based on Lucid’s upcoming mid-sized platform.

• Avis already provides similar fleet operations services for Waymo, suggesting an emerging third-party robotaxi operations market. Hertz pivoted to fleet management after a 2024 fire sale of EVs that the company said suffered higher-than-expected maintenance costs from Uber drivers renting them.

• Hertz framed Oro as filling an orchestration and operations gap as the industry shifts from personally owned vehicles to commercially operated driver-led and autonomous fleets. The framing suggests the company expects significant portions of the rideshare market to run on outsourced AV operations.

Colorado Safety Bill Would Force Background Checks Every 6 Months and Require Raw Crime Data

Source: KDVR FOX31

Colorado Rep. Jenny Willford introduced legislation that would tighten rideshare regulations statewide. The bill would require driver background checks at least every six months, bar drivers with certain convictions, force Uber and Lyft to report rider complaints to the Colorado Public Utility Commission within a defined timeframe, and require annual disclosures of raw incident data, including sexual assaults, accidents, and homicides. The bill heads to the House business committee Thursday.

• The bill targets impostor, shared, and rented driver accounts. Accounts would be flagged when the driver’s bank account name does not match the platform name, or when there are changes to the driver’s bank account, name, address, email, or vehicle registration.

• Willford is a sexual assault survivor whose attacker had been driving for Lyft. Willford has said the driver who attacked her looked similar to the one shown in the app and the vehicle matched the listing, but the person who picked her up was not the registered driver. The proposed background check frequency and account-change flags are aimed at closing that impostor-driver gap.

• Uber and Lyft issued cooperative statements rather than opposing the bill outright. Uber pointed to its Women Preferences feature; Lyft said it has engaged in good faith. The posture differs from the companies’ opposition to Portland’s proposed 20% fee cap, and the raw data reporting requirement is likely to face industry resistance.

Uber Eats Finally Kills Tip Baiting With a Tip Guarantee, but Read the Fine Print

Source: Show Me the Money Club

Uber Eats is introducing a tip guarantee that effectively ends tip baiting on most food delivery orders. Couriers will see a guaranteed badge on incoming trip requests showing the total amount they will receive after delivery. If a customer reduces the tip after delivery, Uber will cover the difference. If the tip is increased, the courier keeps the higher amount.

• The guarantee does not apply to percentage-based tips on shop-and-pay orders if the basket size shrinks, to canceled or reassigned orders, or to deliveries flagged for suspected fraud or community guidelines violations. Uber retains discretion in determining what qualifies as fraud.

• Basket sizes rarely change after a food delivery order is placed, meaning the guarantee effectively eliminates tip baiting on Uber Eats food orders. Grocery and shop-and-pay orders remain more variable, and the guarantee provides less protection in those categories.

Driver: Gas Is Up Almost 40% Since the Iran War, and Rideshare Apps Still Haven’t Brought Back the Surcharge

Source: Business Insider

Business Insider profiled a former Wall Street trader who drives Uber and Lyft full-time on the East Coast who said rising gas prices have changed which trips he accepts. The driver, who fills up his Toyota Prius six to seven times a week, said a fill-up cost about $22 before the start of the war in Iran. The same tank now runs $31. He has stopped accepting rides to remote areas where return fares are unlikely and is taking back roads to conserve fuel, even when highways would be faster.

• The driver is calling on Uber and Lyft to reinstate a temporary gas surcharge similar to the $0.45 to $0.55 per ride applied in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. He estimated the surcharge would generate an additional $80 a week. Current gas-related driver benefits are limited to cashback through partner apps and platform-branded debit cards.

• He drives 22 to 28 rides a day, 75 hours a week, seven days a week, mostly within 25 miles of his home. The work pattern illustrates how small per-trip cost increases compound for full-time drivers and influence which fares they accept.

QUICK HITS

• Uber agreed to acquire Hong Kong’s FlyTaxi. – Bloomberg

• BMO Capital reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Uber with a $106 price target after the company’s annual GO-GET Product Showcase. – Investing.com

• There is some confusion on which rideshare drivers are allowed to drive through San Francisco’s Market Street. – KRON 4

• 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 Costs Drivers More Than Gas And Nobody Talks About It

• Uber Is Finally Ending Tip Baiting

• Lyft Is Paying Drivers $1 More… Seriously?

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