Dialing up a ride from an Uber or Lyft driver is costing users of those services more money.
According to an analysis by Gridwise, Inc., an analytics app for ridehail drivers, the median price for an Uber or Lyft ride went up by some 7.5% in 2024. The median price is now $15.99, Gridwise found.
More than 72% of consumers said they would “reduce or stop using rideshare services if prices increased further,” the firm found through a separate survey of 1,000 consumers, according to a report from Bloomberg, which reported that the two companies in recent weeks “provided weaker-than-expected gross bookings forecasts” when they reported quarterly results. Both firms’ shares declined following the earnings announcements.
According to Bloomberg, Uber attributed its muted guidance to macro and seasonal factors including currency headwinds, the recent Los Angeles fires and cold winter weather, the company has also launched a lobbying effort centered around rising trip prices.
The rise in per-ride costs apparently isn’t translating to more money for the drivers.According to the Gridwise analysis, Uber drivers’ average weekly gross earnings fell 3.4% in 2024 from a year ago to $513 while weekly hours increased by 0.8%. Lyft drivers saw that number drop almost 14% to $318, the report found, while weekly hours also dropped by 5.4%.
Uber spokesperson Ryan Thornton told Bloomberg that Gridwise’s findings were “misleading,” saying Uber’s data showed that drivers in the US are “earning above $30 per hour while on a trip” on average.
