Uber and Lyft Suspending Some Services In U.S. & Canada

I’ve been following how the rideshare services in the US have been responding to issues related to the ongoing virus pandemic for a while now.

Both Uber and Lyft announced that they would be suspending accounts for both riders and drivers who were stricken with the pandemic or who needed to quarantine due to exposure.

They also said that they would be providing financial assistance to those who were in need of treatment or quarantine and also help supply hand sanitizer to drivers for free.

But now, both Uber and Lyft have announced that they will be introducing new restrictions for their services in the US and also in Canada. Uber will be suspending their Uber pool service and Lyft will be suspending their shared rides.

In case you are not familiar, these services allow riders to share vehicles and essentially carpool to their destination. These fares are cheaper and allow for more efficient transportation by the rideshare companies as drivers can serve more passengers in less time. 

This suspension makes sense as many regulations and guidance protocols now ask for people to keep a distance from others and keeping such a distance is impossible in the confines of a vehicle, and often times a smaller vehicle at that.

Drivers and passengers are already in close proximity to each other there but if you throw in multiple passengers in a backseat then you have people literally right next to each other.

It’s not difficult to see how that could become a problem.

The rideshare companies are hoping that this will help flatten the curve of transmitting the virus by reducing the contact between people.

They are also encouraging riders to only request rides that are essential.

I have seen a lot of different definitions floating around over the past few days for “essential travel” but for the most part essential travel means that you are traveling to obtain some type of essential need such as food, medication, water, or other highly needed household items.

It also could mean that you are traveling to get somewhere to take care of someone or to help that person find care for themselves.

Essential travel for business needs gets into a gray area. Some might argue that travel necessary to maintain their business is essential while others would argue that essential travel should be more closely related to personal health and safety.

Sometimes it’s easier to define what essential travel is not, which would be things like traveling to a social gathering or an outing at a local bar.

Some people have wondered if Uber and Lyft will be forced to suspend all of their services due to the outbreak of the virus.

Personally, I don’t think that would ever happen unless things got extremely bad and it would likely only be limited to certain locations.

For now, both Uber and Lyft continue to run their operations and Uber Eats continues to provide its food delivery services which is needed now more than ever because of the restrictions being put on the restaurants.

In many cities, if you want food from a restaurant you will have to get it from a drive-through, take out, or delivery. I have seen Uber Eats waiving delivery fees for many places so you can often do this without spending a ton on delivery fees. 

HT: NPR