Rideshare users see headaches if Uber, Lyft drivers pull out of Minneapolis over council vote

While the Minneapolis City Council voted to boost pay for Uber and Lyft drivers in the city Thursday, the people who use the apps regularly are wondering if it’s about to get harder to get home.

The council met for the final vote on a measure meant to raise pay for rideshare drivers. It passed 9 to 4, a veto-proof majority. Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed a similar measure last year, but the council majority has tipped further to the left since then.

Uber and Lyft have amped up a campaign against the measure, taking steps to signal they intend to pull out of Minneapolis on May 1.

The departure of rideshare services would greatly affect Maggie Leese’s commute to work, she said Thursday after the council vote. In her experience, she said, it’s much more affordable than parking in an expensive parking garage. Plus Uber also allows pets, she said, as she patted her dog Luna.

“Our friends that we work with a live a couple blocks away, we share a car (rideshare),” Leese said. “I think it’d be more problematic than anything if there are no companies.”

Late Wednesday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, incoming travelers monitored the location of their drivers by phone while waiting in the airport Uber/Lyft pickup zone.

Mark Phelps of Eden Prairie said he frequently uses both Lyft and Uber to travel in and out of Minneapolis. He looks at both apps for the cheapest ride and if one is up he uses the other, he said.

“We’ve taken a cab from the airport, but otherwise calling a cab? I haven’t done it in years,” Phelps said, calling the prospect “a pain.”

The Minneapolis council’s plan would boost pay for rideshare drivers who say they’ve seen less income in recent years and that they struggle to make enough to cover more than their expenses.

The plan would pay drivers a minimum of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute while transporting riders on any trip within the city limits. Lyft and Uber have defended their pay as fair.

Jen Lenzmeier typically drives to the airport, but she and her husband opted for rideshare on Wednesday after returning from a long international trip. And the Chisago City couple goes for rideshare any time they head into the city.

“When we’re in Minneapolis, when we come spend the night and go out, we always Uber,” Lenzmeier said.

Ellie Thurston sat atop her suitcase in the pickup bay while waiting for her ride to Northfield. Without rideshare, what is already a 40-minute car ride would turn into an hourslong complicated bus trip, she said. While it’s unclear how an Uber and Lyft pullout from Minneapolis would affect the greater region, Thurston noted that the two companies have a large amount of sway in an area that still lacks plentiful transit options.

“They are practically holding the city hostage,” she said.