With Curfews Descending, Uber And Others Suspend Services

With curfews descending on some American cities due to violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash have ceased operations during the curfew hours, CNBC reports.

The protests have broken out in response to the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a police officer in Minneapolis last week. The curfews came down as some of the protests erupted into violence.

Now, Uber has suspended its operations in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and parts of Minneapolis during the curfew hours for the time being. Lyft is also following guidance of the curfews and DoorDash will be pausing operations during those hours, too.

Uber issued a statement on its efforts to aid people during the current events going on.

“Some cities have requested that we suspend operations completely while others want to ensure Uber is available for essential services,” the company said in a statement, the network reported. “We’re also using the Uber app to educate riders and drivers about city curfews and remind them Uber should be used for emergency purposes only during this time.”

In separate news, Uber is debuting a new option for $50 for an hour-long ride in some cities. The idea is to allow for multiple stops to help riders get essential tasks done, particularly as the pandemic remains ongoing, in another example of the company responding to drastically-changed world conditions. That feature will be available June 2 in Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tacoma and Seattle.

Uber and Lyft, along with other ride-hailing apps, have seen dramatic drop-offs in their main ridesharing revenue as the pandemic necessitated people staying indoors. But they have been able to innovate by implementing new features, as Lyft showed by rolling out a grocery delivery app.

The pandemic has put gig workers in a bind, cutting out their main source of revenue even as their status as contract workers made it difficult to access unemployment benefits.