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Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

theguardian.com

31–40 of 273 posts

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#31
post #20
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When driverless cars are common on midwestern highways every night, they will start moving into complex urban areas. We are very far from cars navigating downtown NYC, Seattle, SF, Boston, etc.

Do you live in NYC, Seattle, SF, or Boston?

Yes, Boston, and when can I order my driverless car to pick me up?

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#32

> “The companies are losing money. The businesses are being subsidized by [venture capital] money … And the drivers are essentially subsidizing it by working for very low wages.” Last time I pointed that out I was downvoted for some unknown reason. My neighbor was talking about buying a new car to drive for lyft/uber and I was like "the trick is to tear up somebody else's car." We'll see if he heeds my advice though…

> Last time I pointed that out I was downvoted for some unknown reason.

Hard to believe but the number of votes something gets != the quality or accuracy of the statement.

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#33
post #9

Any Uber drivers want to chime in?

This seems rather low. Granted it's been almost two years since I drove for (primarily lyft) and I was making 50k/year for about 70h work a week. And also I gave myself about 6 weeks of vacation over that year and half.

Would you mind telling us where you drove? I talked to an uber driver in Orlando who said he made a few hundred on a good night..

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#34
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw one yesterday. There was a driver but like... come one, decades?

When driverless cars are common on midwestern highways every night, they will start moving into complex urban areas. We are very far from cars navigating downtown NYC, Seattle, SF, Boston, etc.

Re "midwestern highways": haha, I don't see a "self-driving" car navigating the I-90 in Chicago anytime sooner than SF. ;) At least SFBA has super mild weather that makes the obstacle detection problem much easier. Here there are only two seasons: winter and road construction.

(But yeah, we are very far from cars navigating urban areas, or indeed anyplace where weather is inclement and so are people.)

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless Uber itself is working on autonomous driving technology https://www.uber.com/info/atg/

Uber will exhaust their runway prior to reaching a level of autonomy sufficient to replace drivers. Quote me in 3 years.

Don't look at me if you're expecting an argument :)

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#36
post #16
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. That must be why a Waymo drove itself past me in the Bay Area two weeks ago.

5 years ago I was told the same thing, and 5 years before that. Maybe 5 years from now, but it’s been the same story forever.

Honestly, it really hasn't been the same story forever.

In the 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge, of 21 teams entered, 15 qualified to race on the course, and none finished the 240 km course. The best result was 12km. That was off road, with no requirement to obey traffic laws or other cars to hit.

Since 2009, Google/Waymo has 5 million driverless miles under their belt.

Is it 5 years away? I don't know, but this is not the same story forever. This is iterating and improving at a breakneck pace.

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#37

> “The companies are losing money. The businesses are being subsidized by [venture capital] money … And the drivers are essentially subsidizing it by working for very low wages.” Last time I pointed that out I was downvoted for some unknown reason. My neighbor was talking about buying a new car to drive for lyft/uber and I was like "the trick is to tear up somebody else's car." We'll see if he heeds my advice though…

[deleted]

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#39

> “The companies are losing money. The businesses are being subsidized by [venture capital] money … And the drivers are essentially subsidizing it by working for very low wages.” Last time I pointed that out I was downvoted for some unknown reason. My neighbor was talking about buying a new car to drive for lyft/uber and I was like "the trick is to tear up somebody else's car." We'll see if he heeds my advice though…

> Last time I pointed that out I was downvoted for some unknown reason. Hard to believe but the number of votes something gets != the quality or accuracy of the statement.

[deleted]

Re: Uber and Lyft drivers' median hourly wage is just $3.37, report finds

#40

Any Uber drivers want to chime in?

I was very curious about this and I did some math and I think it is probably correct. I struggled to see how or why any driver would do this, and figured I must be missing something. I decided to find out for myself with my own car, which is fully electric. I thought if I wasn't paying for fuel that maybe there was some profit here. No, there isn't. When you take out maintenance, depreciation, time, fuel - I'm actually surprised that there is $3.37 left over. The only thing that it offers is cash now for an asset you are currently sitting on. But you are trading that, and your time for the cash now. It is incredibly sad that this is the current state of affairs - it would be wonderful to offer a supply side force to improve the conditions for the drivers.
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