Is Uber losing drivers? The company’s own annual report does not say so directly, and it publishes no count of drivers who left. What it does say is that Uber has experienced driver supply constraints in most of the geographic markets where it operates, and expects to keep doing so.[1] That is a statement about tight supply, which is different from a measured exodus, and it is the most reliable starting point for the question.
This guide uses the annual reports (Form 10-K) that Uber and Lyft file with the SEC, because those are legally required company filings rather than commentary. It is not a guide to becoming a driver, and it quotes no earnings figures.
What do the filings say about Uber driver supply?
The same Uber report pairs that supply language with strong demand. It lists 13,567 million trips for 2025, up from 11,273 million in 2024, a 20% increase. When trips grow that fast, an Uber driver shortage in a given city can show up as long waits or higher prices even if the total number of drivers has not fallen. Uber also says that if drivers choose not to offer services through its platform, it may lack enough supply to attract riders. Why drivers can choose when to drive is a question of classification, covered in whether Uber drivers are self-employed.
So the filings support a narrower claim than the headline: supply is a standing operating risk, and demand is rising. They do not support a claim that Uber has lost a stated number of drivers.
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What happened to Lyft, and is Lyft still around?
Lyft is still operating and reports growth. Its 2025 annual report shows 945.5 million rides against 828.3 million in 2024, a 14% rise, and 29.2 million active riders in the fourth quarter against 24.7 million a year earlier.[2] The same report notes that drivers can generally switch between Lyft and competing platforms, and that the company offers increased incentives from time to time to keep enough drivers on the road for the rider demand it sees.
That multi-app behavior is one reason supply is hard to measure. A driver who logs into a rival app for an hour has not left Lyft, but the rider requesting a car may still see a long wait.
Where did the 2020 shortage story come from?
Most pages that ask what happened to Uber and Lyft drivers trace back to 2020 and 2021. The reports for fiscal year 2020 show why. Uber’s trips fell from 6,904 million in 2019 to 5,025 million in 2020, a 27% drop, and the company said its driver supply constraints had been affected by concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak.[3] Lyft’s active riders fell from 21,807 thousand in the second quarter of 2019 to 8,688 thousand in the second quarter of 2020, a 60.1% decline.[4]
Demand collapsed in 2020, and the Uber report said driver supply constraints were being affected by concerns about the outbreak. Treat that period as a historical episode: the 2025 reports above show demand well past those levels.
Why are there no Uber drivers, or Lyft cars, in the app?
A no-cars message is local and momentary, and it has more than one cause. Lyft’s help article on requesting a ride lists no current drivers available in your area, and also a payment method that needs updating, not enough funds to cover the ride, a deleted or deactivated account, and connectivity issues in the app or the phone.[5] Check the account and the connection before concluding that a city has run out of drivers.
Uber’s limited availability message is not defined in the annual report, and this guide cites no Uber help page for it, so it does not explain what triggers it. Retrying after a short wait or choosing another ride option costs nothing.
Tip: If you see a no-cars message, change one thing at a time: retry after a few minutes, then try another ride option, then check your payment method. Doing them in that order tells you whether the cause is supply or your account.
What the filings do not tell you
The reports do not give a driver headcount that could settle the question, and they do not publish wait times by city. Gross numbers such as trips and active riders show demand, not how many people are online at a given hour. They also describe the whole company, not your market.
Two other limits matter. The statements about supply are risk disclosures, which companies write cautiously, so they describe possibilities as well as facts. And the filings are dated: the Uber and Lyft reports used here were filed in February 2026 for the year ending December 31, 2025, so they say nothing about the months since.
What does this mean for a driver or rider?
For riders, tight supply means timing and ride option matter more than any national figure. For drivers, the same facts cut two ways: more demand per driver can help, while both companies say they use incentives to attract supply, and those incentives vary by city and period. Bonus amounts and per-trip pay are separate questions that depend on your market and the current offer in the app, so this guide does not quote any. To weigh the two apps, see which ridesharing service is worth your time.
