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Uber and Lyft are adding a new fee as gas prices surge

Users will now pay more for a Lyft ride or an Uber Eats order due to rising costs.

An Uber and Lyft driver in California

The surcharge begins March 16.

Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Ubers and Lyfts are about to get more expensive. Uber announced Friday that customers will now pay a surcharge for car rides and Uber Eats orders amid skyrocketing gas prices, and Lyft followed suit on Monday.

Starting March 16, users in the U.S. and Canada will pay either 45 or 55 cents more on each Uber trip and either 35 or 45 cents more on each Uber Eats order, with the price depending on location and trip distance. The charge, which Uber said is temporary, will go directly to the driver to help offset gas prices. These surcharges won't apply to New York City Uber drivers, however, as they already received a 5.3% pay increase on March 1 to account for the uptick in gas prices, as mandated by the city's minimum earnings standard.

"Many people are feeling the sting of record-high prices at the pump — and that’s certainly true of drivers and couriers," Liza Winship, Uber's head of driver operations for U.S. and Canada, wrote in a blog post. "While earnings on our platform remain elevated compared to historical trends, the recent spike in gas prices has affected rideshare and delivery drivers."

The change will last for at least 60 days, with the company planning to reassess the need after that period. "Additional changes" may occur in the meantime depending on how gas prices fluctuate.

Lyft followed Uber in adding a temporary surcharge on Monday, but did not say what the fee will add to users' rides. Lyft spokesperson CJ Macklin told The Verge that the company will “share more details shortly.”

“Driver earnings overall remain elevated compared to last year, but given the rapid rise in gas prices we’ll be asking riders to pay a temporary fuel surcharge, all of which will go to drivers,” Macklin told The Verge in a statement.

Uber also encouraged users to switch to electric vehicles, incentivizing drivers with a program which allows them to earn $1 more per trip, up to $4,000 extra annually.

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues unabated, gas prices have spiked nationwide, with the average cost for regular per gallon sitting at $4.33 and the cost per barrel to around $106. California drivers currently pay more than the rest of the country, with the state average per gallon hovering around $5.72.

Updated Monday, March 14 at 3 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with details on Lyft's gas surcharge.

Nat Rubio-Licht

Nat Rubio-Licht is a Los Angeles-based news writer at Protocol. They graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in newspaper and online journalism in May 2020. Prior to joining the team, they worked at the Los Angeles Business Journal as a technology and aerospace reporter.

ubergas pricesgasrussia-ukraine
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