With fuel prices approaching $5 a gallon at some New York City gas stations, drivers for Uber and Lyft and the city’s taxi fleets are demanding rate surcharges to help offset the rising cost of keeping cars on the road
The spike in gasoline prices recently prompted ride-hailing app companies Uber and Lyft to temporarily hit passengers in many cities with a small surcharge to help drivers — who pay for their own fuel. But they declined to apply the surcharge in New York City.
“Fuel prices are going up and up, and we cannot afford it. We want some help from the government,” said Suresh Chand, who has been driving a taxi for 25 years. “If we pay an extra $20 everyday for gas, in a month we are spending from my pocket $600.” “Uber increased its rate for drivers 5.3% at the start of March, bringing the minimum wage up to $31.74 in New York City and helping with increasing fuel prices. This is part of an annual raise tied to the rate of inflation — the only one mandated in the entire state,” said Uber spokesperson Freddi Goldstein.
When the cost of fuel eclipsed $4 a gallon — and continued climbing — he soon confronted a reckoning: Should he put the brakes on his livelihood until he could better manage rising expenses? The ride-hailing industry was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic but remains a multibillion-dollar industry.
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