Rideshare drivers say safety, income jeopardized by others idling near O'Hare
Rideshare drivers at the airport say they are being incentivized to wait for rides on the shoulder of Kennedy. However, doing so is illegal and a law went into effect this year to prevent it.
Some drivers say their safety and income are at risk.
After waiting at O'Hare all day, Jahanzaib Mawani, a limousine driver with Uber, says he went home with nothing.
"We will go for 12 hours and go without any paycheck," he said.
He says lately he's been losing out on a lot of money, up to $500 a day.
The reason why? Drivers idling on the shoulder of the Kennedy. Some are people waiting to pick up family or friends, but Mawani says a lot are Uber drivers.
They should be in this parking lot with the limo drivers, where the Uber app queues them up on a first-come first-serve basis. However, if they sit on the shoulder, Mawani says they are closer to O'Hare, bypass the system and get a ride first.
"The people who are waiting over here in the queue, they are just standing over here for hours and hours," he said.
Cameras are supposed to be installed on the shoulder of Kennedy in the coming months. If drivers are caught idling, a picture of their license plate will be taken and they will be charged a $100 fine.
Some rideshare drivers say it will help, but others fear drivers will find loopholes and they will continue to lose money.
"Yeah, people will get tickets, people will get fines, but you aren't solving the actual problem of why people are tending to be idle over there," Mawani said.
More rideshare drivers chimed in — some saying they know the shoulder is off limits, but they have no choice.
CBS News Chicago reached out to Uber and O'Hare to see if they are doing anything about this. The airport says they work with rideshare companies to address drivers' concerns as they arise. Uber has yet to respond.
As Mawani, he went six hours on Tuesday with no ride once again, but refuses to wait on the shoulder for safety reasons.
"I don't want to wait for a tragedy to happen, so if somebody can take action, who do have the authority. I would really appreciate that."
