As the price of gasoline continues to surge to record highs across the country, Uber announced Friday that it is adding a fuel surcharge to rides and food-delivery orders.
Depending on location, a fee of 45 cents or 55 cents will be added per trip for rides, and 35 cents or 45 cents for Uber Eats food delivery orders for the next 60 days beginning on March 16, Liza Winship, head of driver operations for U.S. and Canada, said in a press release.
Winship added that the surcharge will depend on location and trip length, with “100% of that money going directly to workers’ pockets.”
“Our hope is that this temporary measure will help ease the burden, but we’ll continue to listen to feedback and may make changes in the future.” She said the ride-hailing company will reassess the need for the surcharge following 60 days.
As of Friday, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $4.33, up 53% from a year prior, according to AAA. The average price per gallon reached a nationwide high of $5.72 in California on Friday, compared to $3.78 a year ago, AAA data shows.
During his annual State of the State address on Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he will propose legislation to provide Californians relief from rising gas prices.
Newsom previously proposed suspending a gas tax increase scheduled for July. On Tuesday night, Newsom said, “it’s clear we have to go farther” than that.
“That’s why, working with legislative leadership, I’ll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices,” he said.
Newsom has since provided no further details on his proposal to offset the rising price of gas.
