Uber, Lyft, and Revel Curfew Shutdowns Leave Riders Stranded
Essential workers may be exempt from curfew orders, but their commute options are not
On Tuesday nights, Glen Livingston normally walks from his home in New York City’s South Bronx neighborhood to his 11 p.m. shift as a supervisor at a homeless shelter in East Harlem. It’s a trip the 34-year-old Bronx native has been making for years. But when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a citywide curfew earlier this week in response to protests over the murder of George Floyd, Livingston’s usual late-night walk suddenly became a potential crime.
He decided to take an Uber, but there were none to be had. Along with other ride-hailing services across the city, it was suspended for the night. “Leaving me with no choice but to walk in fear of being racially profiled or harmed by people disobeying curfew,” Livingston, who is Black, told OneZero. “I was scared that night. For the first time, I knew I could possibly not make it back home.”
As cities across the country institute a variety of fast-changing curfews in response to protests, they are also cutting back or completely shutting down the public transit countless individuals use each night to make their way home and to work. Even private transportation services like ride shares, which…
