As pandemic safety measures have been lifted in the US, motorists risk being deactivated for imposing their own masking rules.
Nearly two weeks ago, Uber and Lyft removed in-app buttons that let US drivers easily cancel rides if their passengers weren’t wearing masks – to protect themselves from Covid-19.
“It’s absolute proof of what’s important to them in the workplace,” says Lyft driver Rondu Gantt.
The change came after a federal judge in Florida in April repealed a nationwide mask mandate that applied to many modes of public transportation: trains, planes, buses and taxicab transportation. The next day, both companies lifted their own mask rules. For drivers like Gantt, who says he’s “vaxxed to the limit” and still wears a mask while driving for Lyft in the Bay Area, the change “adds an extra complication to driving.”
He’s usually fine with people not wearing masks in his car when they’re in the back with the windows open to encourage more airflow. But when Uber and Lyft changed their mask policies, they also repealed pandemic-era rules that banned passengers from sitting in the front seat and allowed an extra person to take each ride. Gantt doesn’t want unmasked people sitting next to him, especially when it’s raining and the windows have to be closed. “There’s a lot more negotiation, a lot more involved,” he says.
Most of all, Gantt feels like he has even less control over his own vehicle, his workplace — a feeling that prompted him to get involved with a driver advocacy group called Gig Workers Rising two years ago. During the pandemic, frontline workers say they have faced angry and frightened members of the public, divided on whether masks are an essential public health tool or a politicized nuisance. (Science shows that masks, especially N95s, KN95s and KF94s, slow and prevent transmission of the Covid-19 virus.) About one in 10 Bay Area riders tried to ride without a mask, even when mandated applied, Gantt says.
As governments roll back masking policies, taxi drivers are left to make their own rules. Uber and Lyft spokespersons say any rider or driver who wants to continue wearing a mask can do so. In an email sent to drivers last week, Uber wrote that masks are still recommended.
In the US, app-based drivers are independent contractors, meaning they legally run their own business. Theoretically, the apps only serve as an intermediary between drivers and drivers.
But drivers must follow the rules of the platforms to continue driving for them. These rules include how many times they can cancel rides after accepting them. Drivers who spoke to WIRED say they fear they will be penalized for canceling someone who refuses to comply with the self-imposed masking rules. Drivers who cancel too often may be threatened with “deactivation”, which means being thrown off the platform. Cancellation rates also affect drivers’ place in the companies’ pay levels. For example, on Uber, drivers with high ratings and low cancellation rates are part of a special program that lets them see where a fare is going before accepting it, and that gives them “premium” support — a perk for drivers who say they struggle to reach companies in the gig economy when they need it.
