NEW YORK (AP) – With fuel prices approaching USD5 a gallon at some New York City gas stations, drivers for Uber and Lyft and the city’s taxi fleets are demanding rate surcharges to help offset the rising cost of keeping cars on the road.
A group of upset taxi drivers rallied on Friday at a New York City gas station, where regular gasoline had surpassed USD4.60 a gallon.
On Tuesday, drivers are planning to deploy a caravan across the Brooklyn Bridge to midtown Manhattan to deliver their grievances to Uber executives.
The spike in gasoline prices recently prompted ride-hailing app companies Uber and Lyft to temporarily hit passengers in many cities with a small surcharge to help drivers – who pay for their own fuel. But they declined to apply the surcharge in New York City.
“Over just the past few weeks alone, the price of gasoline has gone up by over 30 per cent,” said Executive Director Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which organised the gas station rally.
“Money that they would normally take home for rent, groceries and medicine, they’re now having to spend on gasoline. That burden needs to be spread out; it should not just be on the drivers alone.”
