Hertz is ending a popular car rental program that had offered numerous Uber and Lyft drivers in the Twin Cities a safe way to continue making a living as drivers if their own vehicle broke down.

“As we cease rideshare operations in the Twin Cities, Hertz is ending its program and has reached out to drivers to ask them to begin returning vehicles,” Uber spokesman Josh Gold said in an email Monday.

Uber announced it would pull out of the Twin Cities and Lyft announced it would pull out of Minneapolis, where a new ordinance requiring a minimum wage for drivers takes effect on May 1. The rideshare companies say the minimum wage is too high to allow them to continue operating.

Twin Cities drivers who rented their rideshare vehicles are now receiving emails from Hertz asking them to return the cars to Hertz car rental locations in St. Paul and Brooklyn Center by a certain date.

“Hertz has decided to cease Lyft Express Drive operations in the Twin Cities due to the order,” Lyft said in a statement.

Lyft said the return date for drivers will vary individually, but will be no later than April 24.

Several rideshare drivers we reached on Monday said they were unaware of the Hertz rental program’s discontinuation.

Uber driver Mauricio Castaneda only learned of this on Monday morning when he took his rental 2021 Chevy Monte Carlo to Hertz in St. Paul for an independent vehicle inspection.

“It’s frustrating. It’s going to be a problem,” Castaneda said. “I’m going to have to find another job.”

Castaneda and other drivers complained that the termination of the rental car contracts was premature because Uber and Lyft will not leave the Twin Cities market until May 1.

Drivers who rent by the week are wondering what to do if they can’t rent the cars for the remaining weeks of Uber and Lyft service. They said they’ve received conflicting signals from Hertz or call center employees said they don’t know the answer.

The vehicles are rented for $335 per week. The rental service, which Hertz launched in 2017 along with Uber and Lyft, has been popular with drivers who found it helpful after maintenance costs for their personal cars rose significantly.

In February and early March, the Hertz branch in St. Paul often had 15 drivers waiting to rent a vehicle.

“I find the rental program is great in certain situations like mine when your car is in the shop and you need to keep working,” said Dan Fragola, who drives 12 hours and 400 miles a day for Lyft. He has put 67,000 miles on his car in 10 months and spent $3,000 on tires and other maintenance costs.

That’s how he ended up at the Hertz Uber location in St. Paul a few weeks ago. It was the first time the Cottage Grove resident had rented a car for business purposes.

Fragola said he isn’t sure how Lyft’s exit from Minneapolis will affect him. He hopes to continue serving suburban passengers who don’t need to go to downtown Minneapolis.

Castaneda said he’s getting a handle on things. He and members of a group called the Minnesota Uber Lyft Drivers Association (MULDA) are trying to create a driver-owned rideshare cooperative that could fill the void left by Uber and Lyft in the Twin Cities market.

The chances that the cooperative could be operational soon are slim. “They need to recruit at least 1,000 drivers to start with,” said Castaneda. As of Friday, more than 200 drivers had signed up, including himself.

The cooperative is one of several options being explored. Other app-based rideshare companies being considered include existing companies already operating in New York, Texas and Washington, DC.

Talks between MULDA representatives on site and representatives and recruiters of these companies are already taking place.

“We can’t do anything else,” Castaneda said. “If they take away our operations here, we’ll have to find another way of working.”