I don't really understand this. Firstly before this whole contractor vs employee situation, Uber was extremely strict on drivers and enforced a high degree of rider privileges. Drivers were penalized for rejecting rides without reason, rider destination was hidden and surge pricing was uniform and purely demand based. These policies objectively improved availability to and from poor neighborhoods, and reduced the opportunity for profiling passengers.
The employee debate has near uniformly turned into dialing back rider protections, removing up front costs and handing drivers more control. The employee requirements will unquestionably increase ride costs and decrease driver availability. This is going to worsen access to poor neighborhoods and add costs on people who cannot afford to pay them, making ride share further restricted to "good" neighborhoods and higher income folks.
The employee debate has near uniformly turned into dialing back rider protections, removing up front costs and handing drivers more control. The employee requirements will unquestionably increase ride costs and decrease driver availability. This is going to worsen access to poor neighborhoods and add costs on people who cannot afford to pay them, making ride share further restricted to "good" neighborhoods and higher income folks.