- Both Uber riders and drivers will have to wear masks during a trip.
- Either riders or drivers can cancel trips and report it to Uber if someone isn’t wearing a mask.
- Uber is spending $50 million on masks, disinfectants, and other supplies for drivers to keep cars clean.
Just as the coronavirus pandemic has forced automakers to reconsider how they assemble vehicles, it has pushed Uber to introduce new guidelines now that the world is beginning to reopen. Beginning next Monday, May 18, both riders and drivers will have to wear masks or face coverings for the duration of Uber trips.
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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a blog post that an online checklist will ask whether drivers and riders have taken certain safety measures before using the service. A selfie taken by the driver and then processed by a new technology will verify that a driver is wearing a face mask; a driver not wearing a mask won’t be able to get online. Riders will have to sit in the back seat and agree to windows being open for increased ventilation.
Prior to the new guidelines, if drivers canceled a trip, they could have been penalized. Now, drivers can cancel a trip if they feel unsafe or if a rider isn’t wearing a mask and not get penalized. Riders can do the same for drivers. Non-mask-wearers can be reported to Uber, and repeat offenders risk being banned from the service.
In order to make sure drivers are taking precautions and ensuring their cars are clean, Uber is spending $50 million to procure masks, hand sanitizer, disinfectant sprays, gloves, among other things, to send to their drivers.
An IBM survey from last month found that a majority of people who used ride-sharing services prior to the pandemic said they would no longer use the services or use them less often. Through the first quarter of the year, which ended March 31, Uber reported that ridership was up 7 percent from last year, but down 13 percent from the preceding quarter. In mid-March, Khosrowshahi said that the company had seen ride bookings drop 60 to 70 percent in Seattle and expected similar drops as the pandemic worsened in other cities.
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
