Uber Canada drivers will soon know fare and destination before accepting ride

Lutsenko_Oleksandr/Shutterstock

Some new major features will soon be added to the Uber smartphone app in Canada, including features that specifically benefit drivers.

Beginning later in 2024, starting in British Columbia and Ontario, Uber Canada will provide its ridehailing drivers with more upfront information about each trip before accepting the ride, including the estimated fare and destination.

This means drivers will be able to see the pick-up an drop-off locations of their passengers ahead of time, which enables drivers to make a more informed decision on whether to accept the ride based on the distances to reach the pick-up location and the passenger’s destination, and the fare they earn from the trip.

You might also like:

While this gives drivers more choice, it could potentially make it more challenging for passengers to take shorter distance trips, given that drivers generally earn more for longer trips and can, of course, be expected to prefer higher fares.

Uber first rolled out this feature in the United States in 2022, and has been expanding it to more markets ever since.

Lyft also introduced this feature beginning in some markets later in 2022, reportedly as a strategy to help attract more drivers to its platform.

Uber’s delivery people also already see similar information before accepting the pick-up and drop-off task.

Another new feature coming to the Uber app in Canada is the ability for drivers to record the video of trips using their smartphone’s front-facing camera (towards the windshield) — without the need to buy a separate dashcam. This is being introduced on a pilot project basis.

They will also be adding a seat belt alert to the app to remind passengers to buckle up at the start of the trip.

Additionally, Uber has put new systems in place to identify customers who submit false report incidents and unfair negative ratings with the goal of receiving a refund or appeasement. Such allegations will no longer be considered in driver ratings or account deactivation decisions.

According to Uber Canada, ever since it reached an agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) in January 2022, drivers have had more representation and won concessions, including improved standards.

Over the last two years, over 1,900 people working on the Uber app have had their account deactivated or an account-related issue case filed with Uber Canada by the union, which has to date worked with the company to re-open access to the platform for 310 workers and resolved the issues for 147 workers.

The provincial government of British Columbia could potentially make some further changes to its ridehailing and taxi policies later this year — the first changes since BC’s regulators first approved the launch of ridehailing in early 2020, just before the pandemic.

By May 2024, a special committee of the BC Legislature is expected to issue its report outlining recommendations on potential reforms to ridehailing and taxi regulations, following the completion of its first major in-depth review of these services since before the pandemic.

This is in addition to the provincial government’s November 2023 announcement on proposed new legislative changes to create improved protections and better working conditions for gig workers, such as app-based ridehailing and delivery workers. This includes establishing a minimum earnings standard of 120% of BC’s general minimum wage (currently $16.75) on a worker’s engaged time, which begins when a worker accepts an assignment through its completion, but does not include the time spent waiting for trips/tasks.

Additionally, under the legislation, the app-based companies will top up the difference when the earnings paid in a pay period do not meet the minimum earnings standard for the engaged time work. Tips are not included in the calculation.

Uber’s decision to provide ridehailing drivers with more upfront details, specifically the fare and the destination, before accepting a trip comes on the heels of the announcement of the proposed BC legislation, which also requires app-based companies to provide “pay transparency” and “destination transparency, as this “will allow workers to assess the desirability and safety of assignments before accepting them.”

According to Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s analysis of gig workers, there are between 26,000 and 60,000 people across BC performing work using ridehailing or food delivery apps. It has been asserted that the vast majority of gig workers use app-based platforms as a supplemental source of income in addition to their full-time job.

You might also like: