This Week in Rideshare: Scooters, Rentals and Groceries.
Scooters get a Lyft, Uber goes rental and groceries on the go. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
MONDAY 4/26/21
While rideshare sank during 2020, scooters got a “Lyft”. Patch explains:
Lyft saw a major rise in the pandemic, especially in Santa Monica, with more than 52K new riders in 2020 using Lyft’s bicycles and scooters.
As communities were impacted by the the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of people across race, gender, socioeconomic status, including critical workers, started using Lyft’s services beyond ridesharing.
TUESDAY 4/27/21
What happens when your Uber drives into a canal? You get charged, apparently. Newsweek explains.
The 30-year-old transportation manager reportedly asked her driver to stop, but he ignored her advice, deciding to follow his navigation software instead. The driver is then said to have made a left turn, driving the two of them into the water.
But the ordeal wasn’t quite finished. When she got home, Lavelle received one last surprise: a £29.31 (USD$40) charge for the Uber.
WEDNESDAY 4/28/21
What’s an Uber without an Uber driver? Uber Rent. CNN Matt McFarland explains:
The car rental program, called Uber Rent, will offer in-app bookings from brands like Avis and Hertz, according to Uber.
Prices will be set by the rental companies, Uber said, and it will take a cut of the bookings, similar to how traveling booking sites operate.
THURSDAY 4/29/21
Good news for gig workers. The US may be stepping in to reclassify gig workers across the board. Reuters reported:
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a son of Irish immigrants and a former union member, has been expected to boost the Biden Administration’s efforts to expand workers’ protections and deliver a win for the country’s organized labor movement.
“We are looking at it but in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees… in some cases they are treated respectfully and in some cases they are not and I think it has to be consistent across the board,” Walsh told Reuters in an interview, expressing his view on the topic for the first time.
FRIDAY 4/30/21
Need a ride but also need groceries. Why not both? Grocery Dive explains:
Uber announced Wednesday it is adding a Pickup and Go feature to its app that allows passengers to order and pick up meals and groceries while en route to their destination.
Starting in June, users in select cities in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Taiwan and Australia can combine food and grocery orders at no extra charge, according to Insider.
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.
