Lyft will add fuel surcharge to rider fees next week

Ride-share service Lyft announced Wednesday that it will add a $0.55 fuel surcharge to the price of each ride beginning next week to help drivers offset the cost of rising fuel prices.

The full amounts, according to The Hill newspaper, will go to the drivers.

"Recent gas price increases are making all types of transportation more expensive," Lyft said. "And this has a direct effect on drivers. So, starting next week, Lyft is adding a $0.55 fuel surcharge to each ride that’ll go directly from riders to drivers – 100% of it."

The company said drivers and passengers should expect the surcharge to remain in place for at least the next 60 days and that it will "continue monitoring gas prices, listening to how drivers are being impacted, and finding ways to support them as things evolve."

New York and Nevada are the two states in which the surcharge will not go into effect immediately.

Nevada has regulatory requirements that, apparently, prevent the measure from taking effect right away. And in New York, minimum earnings standards for drivers recently increased 5.3%.

Uber, last week, announced a similar fuel surcharge beginning Wednesday. User will pay a surcharge of either $0.45 or $0.55 for car rides, and $0.35 or $0.45 for Uber Eats orders.

The national average for gas prices is up to $4.31 a gallon and is as high as $6 or $7 per gallon in some parts of the country.