Different prices for the same ride, Uber expands background checks and the end of an era. LegalRideshare breaks it down. SAME RIDE — DIFFERENT PRICES Why does the same ride cost different prices? Consumer Reports reported: Uber and Lyft, the two most popular ride-hailing companies in the U.S., routinely charge different customers significantly different prices for the same rides, a monthslong Consumer Reports investigation has found. Across the routes we tested, the median difference between the lowest and highest price groupings was 42.4 percent. Uber and Lyft deny that they engage in any fictitious pricing, attributing our findings to real-time marketplace conditions. But the pricing practices observed in our Uber and Lyft tests are different from dynamic or surge pricing. Because our volunteers booked identical rides at roughly the same time, the dramatic price differences we saw can't be explained away purely by the economics of supply and demand. There's a simple reason companies like to offer different prices to different customers for the same thing: It enables them to increase sales and profits. UBER DRIVER BACKGROUND CHECKS Uber is ramping up background checks. Bloomberg reported: Uber is tightening driver background checks in the US and applying the new standards retroactively to existing workers, the company's latest response to a wave of sexual-assault lawsuits brought by passengers. Starting Monday, Uber is expanding the number of criminal convictions that will disqualify a driver or courier from working on its platform, regardless of when the crime occurred, a spokesperson said Friday. The policy will lead to the removal of tens of thousands of existing gig workers, or about 0.5% of the active force in the US, according to the company. Uber had 10 million drivers and couriers worldwide as of April. UBER/WAYMO END PHONEIX PARTNERSHIP It's the end of an era for Uber and Waymo. Reuters reported: Uber and Alphabet's Waymo have ended their self-driving partnership in Phoenix, ​Arizona, as the ride-hailing giant prepares ‌to launch a new autonomous vehicle collaboration in the city. “Phoenix ​was our first pilot market with Waymo and was ‌an ⁠intentionally limited deployment, reaching just over a dozen vehicles dedicated to the program,” an Uber spokesperson said. Uber said it is readying ​the launch ​of a ⁠separate autonomous vehicle partnership in Phoenix, but did not name the ​new partner. The end of the ​partnership ⁠follows Waymo's recall of nearly 3,900 robotaxis in the U.S. because a software issue could cause ⁠the ​vehicles to enter a ​closed freeway construction zone and continue driving. LegalRideshare is the first law firm in the United States to focus exclusively on Uber®, Lyft®, robotaxis, Waymo, and gig worker accidents and injuries. Consultations are always free.