Lyft

After a ride, you’ll be able to mark a driver as a favorite and Lyft will prioritize matching you with them when possible.

The rideshare company just reported its first full year of profitability (based on generally accepted accounting principles). And it only took *checks notes* 13 years! (Uber accomplished this last year.) Net income for 2024 was $22.8 million on adjusted earnings of $382.4 million, compared to a net loss of $340.3 million in 2023. Gross bookings were up 17 percent, and revenue was up 31 percent. But shares were down in after-market trading based on a slightly gloomier than expected outlook for 2025. Still, a significant milestone for the historically money-losing rideshare company.

Rideshare rides in lower Manhattan will cost an extra $1.50 as part of a new rideshare congestion fee starting tomorrow.

Ride share drivers in New York are guaranteed a minimum wage — but Uber and Lyft gamed the law by locking drivers out of the app, making it impossible for them to earn more, a Bloomberg investigation found.

The $2.99 monthly subscription service lets riders lock in a fixed price during peak hours, which Lyft claims can save members up to $40 a month. You’ll pay less if the ride ends up being cheaper than the locked-in price.

According to The Wall Street Journal, ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft “say people are receptive to their ads,” with customers “less likely to cancel” their rides if they’re distracted by advertisements while they wait.

That’s because thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers in over a dozen cities are going on strike for 24 hours to protest low wages and unfair practices by the gig economy companies. Their demands? A larger cut of fares, a living wage, transparency in pay calculations, and an end to unfair deactivations.

Uber will pay $290 million (3 percent of its revenue generated last quarter) and Lyft will pay $38 million (4 percent of its revenue) to settle allegations that the ride-sharing companies illegally withheld wages and mandatory sick leave from drivers in New York. Over 100,000 drivers in the state could be eligible to receive funds under the settlement.

So much so that it wants to get rid of it, CEO David Risher said during Lyft’s earnings call on Tuesday. As reported by TechCrunch:

That translates into 1,072 workers that will be out of a job after the company said it would undertake a “restructuring” to reduce operating costs. These layoffs come after the beleaguered ridehail company laid off 13 percent of staff last November. Lyft’s May 4th first quarter earnings call are sure to be brutal. The company’s share price fell off a cliff earlier this year and has yet to really recover.

On Friday, new Lyft CEO David Risher emailed staff to inform them of layoffs happening on Thursday, April 27th. The company shared his email on its blog. Lyft plans to cut 1,200 or more jobs, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company laid of 13 percent of its staff in November.

Just months after Lyft laid off 13 percent of its workforce, the company’s two co-founders — CEO Logan Green and president John Zimmer — have announced that they’re leaving their posts on April 17th. The pair will remain on the company’s board, while former Amazon head of product David Risher takes over as CEO.

California voters rejected Prop 30, which would have increased taxes on people making over $2 million a year to subsidize electric vehicle purchases for low-income residents, among other climate change fighting measures. Opponents claimed the measure would have been a huge windfall for Lyft, even though it wasn’t really clear how. It’s a weird result, considering the state’s voters handed Lyft (and Uber) a giant win by approving Prop 22 just two years ago. Why so fickle, California?

For anyone hoping to snag a job at their favorite pink-hued ride-hailing company, I’ve got some bad news: Lyft said it won’t be bringing on any new employees through the end of the year, citing economic instability. No lay-offs are being planned at this time, but the company has been trying to cut costs since this past spring. Maybe Uber is still hiring? (Probably not.)