Good. Leave.
Probably a very unpopular thing to say: It would be interesting to see a middleman-free, decentralized version of Lyft/Uber where payments and ride-hailing are done with crypto and blockchain/smart contracts, driver ID's using using DID's, anonymized on-chain using homomorphic encryption. The hardest problem that I forsee with that tech is with dispute resolution. The idea stems from the opinion that the gig economy is great but the real problem (in matters not related to conflict resolution) is that the middleman takes a huge cut of the fare in exchange for doing almost nothing.
I'd be curious to see which would be more practical: a decentralized version of Lyft/Uber powered by blockchain, or an employee-owned version of Lyft/Uber where workers keep all their earnings and pay a small portion for administrative fees to keep the app running.
Admittedly I'm always skeptical of blockchain's ability to actually solve problems. But maybe it would have fewer infrastructural costs? Who knows
Good riddance
Bye Felipe
Good.
The mayor will unfortunately veto this legislation.
I've never used or worked for either so legitimate question for anyone who has worked with such, what's the split on a ride between the app owners and the drivers? I should hope that the driver takes the majority since they're the one taking the risk, time, maintinance, stress and all that. My general understanding is that these services tend to be cheaper than a traditional taxi but less regulated so I get there's contention there.
Basically I'm hoping that the drivers aren't in one of those 'living off the tips' situations like servers in resturaunts while the companies vacume up all the fees.
The driver certainly doesn't take in the majority. There are a bunch of articles online regarding Uber pay, and it's of course variable based on how much and where you drive. It seems that in most places it pays at least $20/hr, but that probably includes tips and is before car maintenance expenses (and insurance: most states now require a different car insurance policy if you drive for ride-sharing now).
My general understanding is that these services tend to be cheaper than a traditional taxi but less regulated so I get there's contention there.
They can be cheaper than a traditional taxi because they handle all the dispatch back-end that traditional taxi companies have, and of course they push maintenance expenses onto their drivers. But their special sauce is in their congestion pricing algorithm, which hikes up rates during periods of "high demand". I've gotten off of planes in the middle of the night before, only to find Uber doubled my fare to the hotel due to "congestion". (In reality, I bet they didn't have enough drivers at 3 am). So I searched for the number of a cab company and saved some money.
Taxi companies who want to compete with Uber should just band together and release a nationwide directory app that let's users phone or text a local cab company that is open 24/7.
Uber was cheaper than Taxi services as it ran at a loss for years trying to out compete the competition on pricing so that it could get a monopoly on the market and get people used to their service. Now they are raising prices again how that most people are used to using their service and other companies are struggling.
In the beginning when Uber moves into a new region, they pay drivers well to get drivers onboard, and charge riders little to get riders onboard. This also makes competitors like taxis less attractive and makes Uber really popular, making it hard for the city to push back.
So drivers might be getting more than riders are paying, with Uber subsidizing the entire thing! If your city is in this phase, it's great for riders and drivers.
Once they're established though, and the competitors have been pushed out, and people learned that Uber is awesome and cheap compared to taxis, they start raising prices and reducing driver pay. To keep enough availability they need to hire new drivers, which means their quality standards drop, and they use increasingly creative strategies down to debt slavery (desperate drivers lease/rent their car - which can be their only vehicle and which they may need to get to work or exist in general in a car centric area - from Uber, at "very favorable" rates. But then they have to keep driving for Uber or lose the car.)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/05/uber-loan-program-debt
They also exploit that most people don't realize the true cost of a car. They only look at gas, not the wear and maintenance of the car. And if you look at what Uber pays, deduct only gas, and consider the rest income, it looks like a good deal, while in reality they might be selling their car to Uber one kilometer at a time and working effectively for free.
As I understand it there isn't a direct share of the ride price or anything like that. The amounts Uber pays to drivers and charges from riders are decoupled to the point where even way it's calculated (e.g. actual distance vs. scheduled distance) could differ between driver and rider. The driver side fare system is different per city/region.
Generally the driver gets the majority of the ride cost, but their earnings vary a lot by region/time. If you're just asking if it's a good job, then the answer is a resounding no. I did it for a few months a couple years ago, and I have a friend who has done it as his full time job for the past 6 years or so. No change that Uber/Lyft makes is ever designed around benefiting the driver. You can safely assume that any new policy is going to make you earn less than you were before.
At the end of the day, you are not fairly compensated for vehicle wear and tear, fuel consumption is not factored properly for all rides, certain arbitrary locations pay more or less and require unpaid relocating to actually land rides, etc. The best is when you take a 2 hour trip only to find out after drop off that you aren't allowed to pick up new rides in that area and that you need to spend nearly the same amount of time getting back to an area you're qualified to drive in. I think that one at least has been mostly resolved since I drove years ago, but you get the idea...
The joy of the big company moving into a limited matked, subsidise the loss until the competition leaves/folds and the people are left with the only game in town. Unfortunatly nothing new there, that's pretty well the M/O of every big chain. In my state it seems there has been a Dollar General popping up in every other small town doing the same thing.
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