This Week In Rideshare: Ghosts, Lyft and Seattle.

Uber Eats chases ghosts, Lyft gets a new CEO and Seattle drivers get a first. LegalRideshare breaks it down.

MONDAY 3/27/23

Uber Eats is cracking down on “ghost” menus. Business Insider reported:

The delivery app plans to remove roughly 5,000 brands that sell food through the platform, Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Those restaurants represent about 13% of all virtual brands on Uber Eats, according to the Journal.

The reason: The brands were the result of restaurants copying and pasting their menus in various forms as they tried to win over customers with new names or branding. In one example, a Pakistani restaurant in San Francisco posted its menu 20 times under different names, according to the Journal.

TUESDAY 3/28/23

Lyft gets a new CEO. CNN reported:

Lyft announced on Monday that Amazon veteran David Risher will join as chief executive next month, and that co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer will step down from their management positions at the ride-hailing company.

The leadership shakeup at the ride-hailing company comes as it has struggled to turn a profit over the years and after its stock has taken a beating in recent months, shedding more than 13% so far in 2023. Late last year the company said it was cutting 13% of its staff, or 700 employees, as part of a major effort to cut costs. Lyft’s stock rose about 4% in after-hours trading Monday on the news.

WEDNESDAY 3/29/23

Seattle drivers get a first. GeekWire reported:

The Seattle City Council today unanimously approved rules providing paid sick leave for food-delivery and other on-demand, app-based gig economy workers. The city appears to be the first in the nation to permanently ensure these protections.

According to the new rules, gig workers will accrue one day of time off for every 30 days of work that include a stop in Seattle. The amount paid will be an average of the compensation earned in the preceding 12 months. Nine days of paid sick leave can be carried over annually. And delivery companies are required to provide workers with written information about these benefits on a monthly basis.

THURSDAY 3/30/23

Uber expands its EV service. Engadget reported:

Uber announced today that it’s adding 14 new markets to Comfort Electric, its EV rideshare service. The program allows you to hail electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Polestar 2. It’s another small step toward the company’s goal of phasing out gas-powered vehicles by 2030.

Beginning today, Uber’s Comfort Electric program adds availability for Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Minneapolis / St. Paul, Montreal, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Tampa Bay and Toronto. The program’s rollout began last May in California and expanded to 25 US markets in September. Comfort Electric is separate from Uber Green, which costs the same as UberX but includes hybrid vehicles in addition to electrics. The company also offers e-bikes and e-scooters in partnership with Lime for customers who can skip cars altogether.

FRIDAY 3/31/23

Have a bad rating as an Uber passenger? Business Insider explains why:

An Uber driver previously told Insider that people with ratings between 4.7 and 4.79 were decent riders, but might have “questionable history.” Passengers can’t see the review for each ride, so I spoke to four Uber drivers across the US to find out what makes them dish out one-star ratings.

After finding out my Uber history, Steven Higgs, an Uber driver who has driven for the company for about six years, said he couldn’t think of anything that would bring down my rating unless I’d made drivers wait for me. He said that he always rates his passengers five stars.

“If you have a lot of stuff to load up, that takes time that we have to sit there while you load and unload your stuff — time that we are not paid for,” one Uber driver based in Houston said. The driver asked to remain anonymous, but Insider has verified their identity.

The driver in Houston said that it doesn’t have to be the main rider; it could be the rider’s loud, drunk, or obnoxious companions that could lead to a one-star rating.

Ratings are also dependent on how riders treat the vehicles. Banging suitcases into the cars and slamming the doors could bring down your rating, the Uber driver in Houston, who has driven for the company for 15 months, said.

LegalRideshare is the first law firm in the United States to focus exclusively on Uber®, Lyft®, gig workers, delivery and e-scooter accidents and injuries. Consultations are always free.