Ride-sharing services operating in Newport that decimated traditional taxi companies in recent years are now leaving tourists and residents waiting at the curb for long stretches because of a shortage of drivers.
Evan Smith, CEO and president of Discover Newport, said the tourism bureau’s visitor’s center is fielding five to 10 complaints daily from angry riders who are waiting up to an hour or longer for a driver to arrive to get to sightseeing spots.
Smith said there aren’t many options on Aquidneck Island. Beyond Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., both of which offer vehicles for hire from their smartphone platforms, there is one traditional taxi service, Orange Cab, as well as a pedicab, a bike transportation service that’s only good for short distances.
“If you talk to a hotel concierge, they will tell you that it is crazy trying to find a ride for their guests. The wait time is ridiculous,” Smith said. “It’s become problematic this year because of the labor shortage – there just aren’t enough drivers.”
The problem is part of a larger issue in a national job market that’s been altered by the COVID-19 pandemic with many job openings going unfilled either because of the availability of federal relief funds for the unemployed or because many people have altered their career paths.
In Rhode Island, the shortage of ride-sharing drivers is being felt more acutely this summer in busier, more tourist-centric areas such as Newport. Officials in other parts of the state, including Providence, are reporting few complaints.
Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, said the driver shortage is part of a labor shortage hitting many industries. “We expect the situation will loosen up by mid-fall here in Rhode Island,” she said.
Hayley Prim, a policy manager at Uber, said the company responded to its national shortage by investing $250 million to incentivize its driver workforce in April. For Uber, Prim said, that meant increasing its driver wage from $23 to $30 an hour.
“As cities have started opening up and seen their economies bounce back, more riders are taking trips,” Prim said. “Drivers are also returning to Uber to take advantage of higher earnings opportunities from our driver stimulus while they are still available.”
Since May, she said, about 300,000 drivers have returned to the mobile platform as Uber attempts to address the increased demand.
Eric Smith, a spokesman for Lyft, said that the ride-sharing service recognized the increase in rider demand in the early spring.
“We’ve added thousands of drivers in the past few weeks and it’s already leading to a better rider experience with wait times down more than 15% nationwide, and down 35% in some major markets,” he said. “It continues to be a great time to drive, with drivers in top markets earning significantly more than they were pre-pandemic.”
Uber driver Kevin Murray, who operates in Newport, said a solution for riders is to use the Uber reservation function in the app, which allows a rider to book a ride up to 30 days in advance. The problem with this option, he said, is a rider needs to be ready to travel as much as 20 minutes early for a ride.
Orange Cab could not be reached for comment.
Evan Smith is hoping to talk with Uber and Lyft to develop ideas on how to improve the service on Aquidneck Island. “For every problem, there is a solution,” he said. “We are going to need to dig deeper to solve this.”
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Shuman@PBN.com.
