This Week in Rideshare: Protections, Delivery, and EVs.

Drivers demand more, Lyft goes delivery and EVs for rideshare. LegalRideshare breaks it down.

MONDAY 12/13/21

Rideshare drivers are demanding better protections before they get back on the road. Fox Business reported:

While the companies declined to share data on attacks on their drivers, available data in some cities suggest drivers are getting caught up in a surge of carjackings, murders and other violent crimes. In Minneapolis, 494 carjackings were reported through Nov. 11, up 279% from those reported throughout 2019, according to a spokesman for the city’s police. Ride-share drivers accounted for 11% of those cases. In Chicago, a police spokesman said that carjackings through Nov. 10 were up 36% compared with the same period last year. In Oakland, Calif., official data show carjackings through Nov. 7 were up 85% compared with the same period last year and 144% from the comparable 2019 period.

“It’s an absolute crisis,” keeping drivers from coming back to work, said Lenny Sanchez, the Illinois director of the Independent Drivers Guild, a driver-run group.

TUESDAY 12/14/21

Looks like Lyft is jumping into food delivery. Business Insider reported:

The ride-hailing service Lyft is taking the leap into the competitive food-delivery space through a partnership with the online-ordering giant Olo, the two companies jointly announced Tuesday.

Justin Paris, the head of Lyft Delivery, said the “opportunity size” tied to partnering with Olo is “several hundred thousand deliveries per week.”

Olo, which went public in March, works with 500 restaurant brands that have 76,000 locations in the US. Large chains like Wingstop and Denny’s use Olo’s network of two dozen delivery providers to offer delivery to consumers. Lyft is now part of that delivery-provider mix, which also includes Uber Eats and DoorDash.

But unlike third-party platforms, Lyft is not trying to sell directly to consumers. “We don’t have a consumer-facing marketplace,” Paris said.

WEDNESDAY 12/15/21

Trans drivers are still being deadlocked. Input reported:

Adrien Escobedo, a trans man driving for Uber Eats in California, says he was locked out of his Uber account without warning last summer. He tells The LA Times that he tried at least 20 times to resubmit the required documentation, including photos of his face, copies of his license, and proof of car insurance. He was denied every time.

He was forced to wait weeks for a response from the company and ended up receiving an in-app message stating that, because he had submitted fraudulent documents, he had been banned from driving for Uber. The ban would be permanent, with no chance for appeal.

THURSDAY 12/16/21

Uber is expanding same-day delivery. The Verge reported:

Uber Connect is now available in 6,000 cities and towns in the US, including major markets like New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. The service was initially launched in April 2020 as a means to diversify Uber’s business during the early months of the pandemic. Since then, the company has seen incredible growth in Uber Connect, registering a 200 percent increase in trips since the first week of January 2021.

In addition to expanding to more markets, Uber is also allowing the sender to include delivery instructions (e.g. Handle with care) to their driver and arrange “meet at door” pick-up and delivery. Originally, the package recipient needed to meet the courier at the curb.

FRIDAY 12/17/21

A start-up leasing EVs to rideshare drivers just got a big boost. Automotive News reported:

Electric vehicle leasing startup Hive Technologies said on Tuesday it closed a $30 million funding round to expand its fleet for ride-hail drivers who can otherwise not afford the vehicles’ higher upfront costs.

The company, backed by investors with an environmental, social and governance focus, leases EVs to Uber and Lyft drivers on a per-mile cost basis, offering an option potentially cheaper than taking out a loan to buy a new EV.

“The more you drive, the faster the car payment goes to zero. So instead of going under the water on a loan, you’re benefiting,” Hive CEO Mathias Thomsen told Reuters.

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.