Uber, Lyft To Raise Fees In California To Offset High Gas Prices

CALIFORNIA — The price California residents pay to take a ride or order food through Uber and Lyft is about to go up.

To offset rising gas prices for California Uber drivers, the ride-sharing and food-delivery company said it will impose a temporary surcharge on customers starting Wednesday.

Fuel prices rose rapidly in California and throughout the country after Russia invaded Ukraine last month.

Lyft also announced Monday that it would add a temporary surcharge that would go directly to its drivers, but it has not released specific details.

“We’ve been closely monitoring rising gas prices and their impact on our driver community,” Lyft spokesperson CJ Macklin said in a statement. “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. We’ll share more details shortly.”

California drivers paid an average price of $5.744 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline as of Monday, AAA reported. Monday's state average was 41 cents more than a week ago, $1.42 more than last month and $1.91 more than this time last year.

Uber said California consumers will pay a surcharge of 45 or 55 cents on each trip and 35 or 45 cents on each food delivery order, depending on their location. All of that money will go directly to workers' pockets, Uber said.

The surcharges were based on average trip distance and the increase in gas prices, the company said. They will remain for at least 60 days, when Uber said it will reassess the situation.

"We know that prices have been going up across the economy, so we've done our best to help drivers and couriers without placing too much additional burden on consumers," Uber posted to its website. "Over the coming weeks we plan to listen closely to feedback from consumers, couriers and drivers. We'll also continue to track gas price movements to determine if we need to make additional changes."

To further ease the pain at the pump and inch closer to its zero-emissions goal, Uber said it will also help more drivers in California and across the country make the switch to electric vehicles by providing incentives to EV drivers, such as $1 more per trip, up to $4,000 annually.

Uber said it also negotiated discounts for drivers on leading EV models and special deals on charging. A partnership with Hertz will also make up to 50,000 fully electric Teslas available for eligible drivers to rent by 2023.

The temporary surcharges apply across the country, except New York City.