Uber and Lyft prices up significantly in Seattle

SEATTLE — Just before he jumped in a rideshare car in downtown Seattle headed for the airport, Josh told us what he was about to pay.

“Fifty-three dollars to go to Sea-Tac,” he said.

He’s from out of town and hasn’t taken Uber or Lyft in a while.

“It does seem kind of pricey, but I don’t have a good frame of reference,” he said.

As passengers return to rideshare in the waning pandemic, Michael Wolfe of the industry-funded driver group Drive Forward said people in Seattle are paying 50% to 60% more.

“Your ride from downtown to the airport, instead of being $35-$40, in non-surge times is now $55-$70,” he said.

Wolfe said in addition to the driver shortage hitting many cities, Seattle’s new Fare Share law is pushing up prices.

“The rates in Seattle are 90% due to the policy,” he said.

Fare Share requires drivers to be paid a minimum compensation, plus benefits and expenses.

A direct, 51-cent fee on each ride funds affordable housing and transportation projects, as well as a center for drivers to resolve disputes with the companies, which the city launched Thursday.

“I can’t believe it because we’ve been fighting for it for years,” said the drivers’ union president, Peter Kuel, about the new center.

When KIRO 7 asked Mayor Jenny Durkan about the rise in prices, she said the city has to look into whether they’re actually going up because of Fare Share.

Durkan had this message for customers: “If you have the luxury of calling a car on your phone or ordering a meal on your phone, don’t you want to support the driver and the family behind it? Don’t you want to make sure they’re treated fairly?”

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