Taxi drivers protest, Lyft tests loyalty and Uber pays $4000 to drivers. LegalRideshare breaks it down.

TAXI DRIVERS “TOTAL SHUTDOWN”

Taxis are preparing a total shutdown. Catalan News reported:

Barcelona's taxi drivers are planning a “total shutdown” of the city on Tuesday night in protest against FC Barcelona's new partnership with Uber.

Élite Taxi has condemned the club's sponsorship deal, which makes Uber an official partner of FC Barcelona.

They call it an agreement with “criminals” who have built their business on “deregulation, labor exploitation, and tax evasion.”

The union warned that further protests will follow future matches if the partnership is not canceled.

LYFT LOYALTY REWARDS

Lyft tests new loyalty rewards. Bloomberg reported:

Lyft Inc. is piloting a program that offers some customers cash back on future rides, the latest effort to win over users from rival Uber Technologies Inc.

The new program will let users earn as much as 5% cash back on rides if they opt to auto-reload their account with cash. Setting the auto-refill amount to $100 comes with other benefits like relaxed cancellation fees and free ride upgrades each month.

The company is opening early access to the feature for riders in the Bay Area, as well as customers who have been using Lyft for at least 10 years. A company spokesperson said the program may roll out more broadly next year depending on feedback during this testing period.

Launching a cash-back program is another way Lyft is trying to deepen loyalty from users who might have otherwise chosen Uber, which owns more than 70% of the US rideshare market. Uber has a similar feature called Uber Cash that allows users to pre-load funds for rides or to access ride credits from credit card promotions, but it does not have a rewards structure.

UBER PAYS $4000 FOR DRIVERS TO GO EV

Uber is paying drivers $4000 to go EV. The Verge reported:

As it rushes to meet its pledge for “100 percent” of trips in electric vehicles by 2030, Uber is offering grants of $4,000 for drivers to swap their gas-guzzlers for zero-tailpipe emission vehicles. The company is also dropping its “Uber Green” branding in favor of the more simple “Uber Electric.”

Uber has said it will be completely carbon neutral in North America and Europe by 2030 and in all global markets by 2040. But when it first announced this pledge in 2020, it said it wouldn't directly pay drivers to ditch their gas-burning vehicles in favor of EVs. Now, the company is reversing that decision in the hopes that direct payments can help accelerate EV adoption.

Not every driver will be eligible for the grants, at least not initially. As part of Uber's new “Go Electric” program, drivers in New York City, California, Colorado, and Massachusetts can apply for $4,000 when they switch to a new or used EV. When combined with local incentives, like Massachusetts' MOR-EV and Colorado's Clean Fleet Program, EV prices can drop even further.

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