Exclusive | Greedy Uber using congestion pricing tolls to slash driver wages on top of adding $1.50 surcharge for customers

Uber is taking its drivers for a ride.The ride-hailing giant – a major cause of NYC’s gridlocked streets and among the biggest supporters and beneficiaries of Gov.Hochul’s congestion-pricing scheme –– is slashing driver wages on trips between New Jersey and the Big Apple while passing off a new $1.50 surcharge on these trips to customers, The Post has learned.Uber previously credited its 100,000-plus New York and New Jersey drivers $20 for trips between NYC and the Garden State to help compensate for tolls, gas, and other expenses.But Uber notified drivers last week it’s lowering the credit to $16.06 for “peak-hour” trips and $14.06 during off-peak hours.“Due to Congestion Pricing and other rising costs, starting January 5, 2025, we’ll reimburse the costs of tolls to better reflect your trip expenses,” the company said in an email blast a day earlier.Brendan Sexton, president of the Independent Drivers Guild, a union representing the drivers, ripped Uber as “greedy” and called the pay cut “obscene.”“New York leaders cannot allow a billion-dollar corporation to use their congestion toll as a way to steamroll thousands of hard-working rideshare drivers out of fair pay,” he said.

Uber will rake in an extra $6 million yearly in profit because of the credit reduction on trips from NYC to Newark Airport — which totaled 118,137 in October — alone, the union estimated.“It’s not fair.It’s a lose-lose situation,” said Uber driver Madjed Zegrar, adding the company recently banged drivers by cutting minimum pay on short trips within NYC from $5.39 to $4.Zegrar, 37, said he usually takes at least two New Jersey jobs per shift, so the credit cut translates into a $300 a month shortfall.As part of the congestion-pricing scheme, ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft were slapped with an additional $1.50 surcharge for trips within the congestion zone, but the state allowed those costs to be passed onto customers — just like a sim...