SAN JOSE, Calif. _ After years of driver complaints, Uber on Tuesday said it will roll out a new feature that lets passengers tip their drivers using the ride-hailing app.
The in-app tipping option is now available in Seattle, Minneapolis and Houston, Uber said in an email sent to drivers Tuesday morning and later posted on the company's website. The San Francisco-based startup said it plans to add more cities over the next few weeks and is aiming to make tipping available to all U.S. drivers by the end of July.
Uber on Tuesday also announced a handful of other driver-friendly changes. Passengers will be charged if they cancel their ride after more than two minutes _ down from five minutes. And Uber is letting drivers choose their destinations for more trips and adding on a $2 fee for driving teenagers.
"For the next 180 days (and beyond), we'll be making meaningful changes to the driving experience. Some changes will be big, some will be small _ all will be changes drivers have asked for," Uber wrote in a blog post. "Why now? Because it's the right thing to do, it's long overdue, and there's no time like the present. This is just the beginning. We know there's a long road ahead, but we won't stop until we get there."
