Ride-hailing: price, privacy, and who drives
Every ride you book leaves a record of where you started, where you went and when. It also sends money somewhere: to a platform, a taxi owner, a cooperative of drivers, or a company that employs them. In the US you often have more choices than the two big apps, though many of them only work in a few cities.
The short answer. Uber and Lyft are the two national apps and the easiest default. Uber also has a data breach on the public record that it reported a year late, Lyft's policy allows sharing for targeted ads, and California law treats app drivers as independent contractors under set conditions. Taxi apps book licensed cabs at city-set meter fares with no surge. Driver-owned cooperatives and a company with employed drivers run in a handful of cities. If you do not use a smartphone, a phone-only service can book a ride for you. Buses and trains are a separate decision on this site.
The data, at a glance
How each option classifies, pays or shares ownership with its drivers:
Weigh what you care about
Privacy. Uber agreed in 2018 to pay $148 million to settle with all 50 states and Washington DC over a 2016 breach that exposed personal information, including driver's license details, for about 600,000 drivers; Utah's Attorney General says Uber did not report it until November 2017. Lyft's privacy policy says it does not sell personal information "for money," but that it may share it with third parties for personalized ads, which "may constitute 'sharing' or the 'sale'" under some state laws. Lyft's policy links to a personalized advertising setting you can change.
Who the driver is. Section 7451 of California's Business and Professions Code says an app-based driver "is an independent contractor and not an employee" as long as the company does not set their hours, force them to accept rides, or stop them working elsewhere. The alternatives:
- The Drivers Cooperative, a driver-owned cooperative in New York City, now describes itself as specializing in paratransit and non-emergency medical transport, with Denver listed only as a planned expansion. It says members make 8 to 10 percent more on each trip than on Uber and Lyft.
- Fare Co-op, in Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon, says drivers hold 50 percent of the cooperative, advertises no surge pricing and says riders save 20 percent against Uber.
- Alto employs its drivers as W-2 employees "with hourly pay, benefits," in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco.
Price. Taxi fares are set by the city. In New York, the Taxi and Limousine Commission sets a $3.00 initial charge, $0.70 per unit, a $2.50 rush-hour surcharge and a $70 flat fare between Manhattan and JFK, in force since 19 December 2022. Arro, an app that books licensed taxis, says its prices "do not increase, regardless of weather, demand or conditions," and adds a service fee of up to $2.00.
Safety evidence. Uber's US safety report for 2019 and 2020 recorded 3,824 reports in its five most severe categories of sexual assault and misconduct, and a 38 percent fall in the reported rate. Waymo, which runs cars with no human driver, reports 271.3 million rider-only miles through June 2026 and 82 percent fewer injury-causing crashes than a human benchmark in the cities where it runs. These are the companies' own figures, and we have not checked them against outside data.
Reach. GoGoGrandparent books an Uber or Lyft by ordinary phone call, with no app or internet needed, at the standard fare plus a service fee. UZURV, built for paratransit, offers door-to-door and wheelchair-accessible rides through transit agency partners.
If you care most about...
| If you care most about... | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Drivers' pay and ownership | a driver-owned cooperative or employed drivers | drivers keep a larger share or get benefits |
| No surprise prices | a licensed taxi or taxi app | city-set meter, no surge |
| Coverage almost anywhere | the big apps | the widest networks |
| Less data shared | a taxi hailed on the street and paid in cash, or tighter ad settings | fewer records tied to you |
| Riding without a smartphone | a phone-only booking service | a call replaces the app |
| Wheelchair access | a paratransit partner service | vehicles and drivers trained for it |
There is no single best option. The widest coverage comes with the most data collected, and the best-paid drivers work in the fewest cities.
The ride you may not need
Walking, a bike, a lift from someone already going your way, or the bus all cost less and record less. For short trips, those are worth checking first.
Safety and your rights
For a taxi, your city's taxi regulator licenses drivers and sets fares; in New York, that is the Taxi and Limousine Commission. For an app, read its safety page and in-app features before you ride. We give no legal advice. If something goes wrong, report it to the company and, where it applies, your city regulator or the police.
What we're not telling you
We do not have fares for most cities, and our driver-pay figures are the companies' own claims. The cooperatives are young and small, and their numbers are unaudited. Accessibility coverage changes city by city.
How we made this
We take no money from any ride company. Every claim above comes from a page we opened in September 2026. If something has changed, tell us through Contribute and we will correct it.
Sources
- Utah Attorney General, Uber settlement, checked 2026-09
- Lyft, privacy policy, checked 2026-09
- California Business and Professions Code, section 7451, checked 2026-09
- The Drivers Cooperative, checked 2026-09
- Fare Co-op, checked 2026-09
- Alto, checked 2026-09
- NYC rules, taximeter rate of fare, checked 2026-09
- Arro, FAQ, checked 2026-09
- Uber, 2022 US safety report, checked 2026-09
- Waymo, safety impact, checked 2026-09
- GoGoGrandparent, how we work, checked 2026-09
- UZURV, checked 2026-09
Compare ride options on price, privacy, driver pay, safety and reach by your own weighting in the ride-hailing explorer.