Uber is taking its drivers for a ride.
The ride-hailing giant – a major cause of NYC’s gridlocked streets and among the biggest supporters and beneficiaries of Gov. Hochul’s congestion-pricing scheme –– is slashing driver wages on trips between New Jersey and the Big Apple while passing off a new $1.50 surcharge on these trips to customers, The Post has learned.
Uber previously credited its 100,000-plus New York and New Jersey drivers $20 for trips between NYC and the Garden State to help compensate for tolls, gas, and other expenses.
But Uber notified drivers last week it’s lowering the credit to $16.06 for “peak-hour” trips and $14.06 during off-peak hours.
“Due to Congestion Pricing and other rising costs, starting January 5, 2025, we’ll reimburse the costs of tolls to better reflect your trip expenses,” the company said in an email blast a day earlier.
Brendan Sexton, president of the Independent Drivers Guild, a union representing the drivers, ripped Uber as “greedy” and called the pay cut “obscene.”
“New York leaders cannot allow a billion-dollar corporation to use their congestion toll as a way to steamroll thousands of hard-working rideshare drivers out of fair pay,” he said.
Uber will rake in an extra $6 million yearly in profit because of the credit reduction on trips from NYC to Newark Airport — which totaled 118,137 in October — alone, the union estimated.
“It’s not fair. It’s a lose-lose situation,” said Uber driver Madjed Zegrar, adding the company recently banged drivers by cutting minimum pay on short trips within NYC from $5.39 to $4.
Zegrar, 37, said he usually takes at least two New Jersey jobs per shift, so the credit cut translates into a $300 a month shortfall.
As part of the congestion-pricing scheme, ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft were slapped with an additional $1.50 surcharge for trips within the congestion zone, but the state allowed those costs to be passed onto customers — just like a similar $2.75 “congestion fee” on all trips below 96th Street authorized in 2019.
The growing industry — which lobbied hard for congestion pricing despite union opposition and got a huge boost last year when the city lifted a cap on how many for-hire vehicles can be on the road — stands to make a killing because the new surcharge is cheaper than the $9 toll private vehicles now pay to enter parts of Manhattan, and the nearly $3 straphangers pay to take subways and buses, critics say.
Lyft continues to pay its drivers a $20 credit for trips between NYC and New Jersey.
Uber spokesman Josh Gold attributed the credit reduction to Uber trying to keep fares low.
“With government-mandated taxes and fees now 15% of the average fare and [Mayor] Eric Adams trying to jam through a sixth-rate increase in five years, New Yorkers can’t afford anything extra,” he said.
