The cost of using Uber will be increasing as the company is adding a surcharge on fares and deliveries in the U.S. and Canada to cover rising gas prices. Rides will now require a $0.45 to $0.55 per trip charge while deliveries will tack on a $0.35 to $0.45 surcharge.
In their blog post shared by Liza Winship, Uber’s Head of Driver Operations for the U.S. and Canada, the company admits that their earnings remain historically high, but will still raise costs to help drivers, as they don’t pay for their gas usage.
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“While earnings on our platform remain elevated compared to historical trends, the recent spike in gas prices has affected rideshare and delivery drivers. To help reduce the burden, we are rolling out a temporary fuel surcharge,” Winship wrote on Friday.
The new costs will not affect users in New York, where the city has mandated that Uber increase their minimum payouts to drivers. Uber explained in the statement that drivers will have to use their increased wages to cover their costs for gas: “On March 1, drivers in New York City received a 5.3% increase to the city’s mandated minimum earnings standard, which accounts for increased operating costs, and the vast majority of NYC delivery workers use bicycles, not cars.”
[Via]