Ride-hail apps like Uber, Via, and Lyft have made transportation more egalitarian in some ways, reducing the chances a taxi will bypass a person of color for the white customer just down the street, or connecting underserved neighborhoods to the surrounding community. But until self-driving vehicles take over, human bias is still a problem.
After studies found that people of color face longer wait times to be matched with a driver—sometimes 35 percent longer than white riders—by 2018, most ride-hail platforms had responded by limiting the information drivers receive about potential riders according to industry watchers. For many of the services on these platforms, drivers can no longer see the name, profile picture, or drop-off location of customers before accepting a ride. The hope was that discrimination would decrease.
