This Week In Rideshare: Elderly Riders, Waymo, and Assault Cases.
Lyft helps the elderly, Waymo expands and the court goes after Uber. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
LYFT HELPS ELDERLY RIDERS
Lyft is simplifying the app for elderly riders. Bloomberg reported:
Dubbed “Lyft Silver,” the new mode would include a user experience “designed for seniors with a simple new look” and “easy access to support,” according to a Bloomberg News review of the app’s publicly available iOS code. The offering, which has not been previously reported, would also let older users share ride details with a contact and use digital gift cards sent by people they know.
Lyft has been seeking new ways to deepen user loyalty and win over customers from Uber. The two companies, both based in San Francisco, have a long history of trying to undercut each other on price while also introducing similar features. Uber recently began working on “price lock pass,” Bloomberg reported, months after Lyft launched a feature by the same name that guarantees a certain rate for a regular route. Lyft has said that its product has been popular with riders.
Uber has similarly been adapting its ride-hailing service to specific use cases. Last May, Uber introduced a caregiver offering, letting caretakers pay for, reserve and track Uber rides for their loved ones. That product is similar to Uber Teens, an account type introduced in 2023 that allows children under 18 to order their own rides with highly rated drivers. Parents can supervise those rides remotely.
WAYMO EXPANDS TO SILICON VALLEY
Waymo expands to Silicon Valley. SF Gate reported:
The company announced on Tuesday that it’s opening up its fared rides in a new 27-square-mile stretch of the Peninsula, including most of Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos and a small wedge of Sunnyvale. Waymo’s new service map won’t yet be connected to its San Francisco network, but the expansion brings self-driving cars to the heart of Silicon Valley.
Waymo will first offer rides to “select Waymo One riders who live in the service area,” with a plan to expand that group “gradually,” spokesperson Ethan Teicher told SFGATE. An employee wrote on X that users can open the app in the service area to join a waitlist.
The company’s white robotaxis also carry riders in Los Angeles and Phoenix, and it’s rolling out tests in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Miami and Austin, Texas, the Verge reported in January. Cold-weather cities aren’t getting totally left out: The outlet wrote that last year, Waymo sent some cars to Truckee, California, upstate New York and Michigan for testing.
1600 SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES AGAINST UBER
A court allows 1600 assault cases against Uber. LA Times reported:
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that more than 1,600 sexual assault cases against Uber will be allowed to continue before a single San Francisco judge, a move with far-reaching implications for the ride-hailing app and its cohort in Silicon Valley.
The decision issued Monday upholds an earlier ruling by a council of federal judges appointed to centralize civil suits from across the country.
Experts said the litigation is being followed closely by home-sharing platforms, dog-walking services and other “independent-contractor” apps, which have also been hit with stacks of sexual assault liability claims, along with Uber’s main competitor, Lyft.
Hundreds of rape survivors claim the tech giant skimped on driver background checks, failed to report sexual violence to police and allowed sex offenders to drive for the company — all while banking millions in “rider safety fees.”
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