Rideshare operations are being suspended in California • Hacker News Board

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#81

Post by joewadcan » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:46 PM UTC

Pathetic... why not take the ~20% of drivers who put in 35h+ a week and make them employees to keep their service running and help their customers? ... Oh right because they can instead inflict pain 75 days before the carveout ballot measure they wrote.

They aren't the innocent victims of gov't overreach for us to venerate. They stonewalled participation in writing a better AB5, because they want no rules but their own.

IMHO This would be a great time for TESLA to spin up a 100% employee based human driving service in California and gobble up the demand.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#82

Post by zelly » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:46 PM UTC

What's stopping someone from running a Lyft-like service "dry" (without payment processing) and just matching riders with drivers, with the expectation of paying cash or Zelle

I mean other than the fact that it would make no money.

What could California do to the developers of such an app?

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#83

Post by kaesar14 » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:46 PM UTC

tedivm wrote: post #60

kaesar14 wrote: post #13

Why can't we have a new worker classification that allows gig workers to have both the flexibility the job entails + better benefits/protections?

That's what AB5 did. It allowed for a new type of worker that was still partially an employee but would also allow for flexible hours and the ability for drivers to reject rides. That's what's so disingenuous about this campaign by Uber and Lyft. They're pretending that being an employee would take away all of this flexibility, but the reality is the legislation left that flexibility in place. This is entirely an arg…

Everything I look up says AB5 makes rideshare drivers wholesale employees with the obligations and benefits that carries. Can you explain what you mean?

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#84

Post by malandrew » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:46 PM UTC

kaesar14 wrote: post #17

setpatchaddress wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question: what state government would you look to for a better model?

Not many states are in the position California is. No matter how poorly run the state might be, people are unlikely to leave due to existing business and weather. Hard to compare.

This. It's basically a hostage situation. With the exception of not enforcing non-competes, I can't think of a single thing that makes California great that is the result of government.

Hollywood is there because of the weather. The central valley is there because of the weather and the soil. The tech industry is there because of the defense industry in WWII and the importance of the west coast to the war effort in the Pacific. There almost 1000 miles of beautiful coast and some of the best National Parks and National Forests in the country are in California.

The geography and the weather is the root of why California is successful. That has attracted and kept talent and created a positive feedback loop between talent and natural resources.

The California government has the luxury of being able to be the most mismanaged because they don't even have to try. Tax money is abundant from all the economic activity and they have captive industries that would have a hard time relocating elsewhere.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#85

Post by nemothekid » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #30

nemothekid wrote: post #9

When I moved to CA, I put off getting a CA license for years. I always told myself I'd go to the DMV and do the paperwork, then I waited long enough to find out I would have to retake the test, until finally I just resigned to using Uber and Lyft all the time. I never thought I would need it and so I never made it a priority. So this news really sucks, as you haven't been able to schedule DMV appointments at all and…

The average person's response to being told they'd have to take another driver's test isn't to replace driving with Uber/Lyft. You're in a unique position to be able to afford to replace all driving with ridesharing, since gas+insurance+maintenance costs are much lower than say, a month of commuting to an office via rideshare.

I mainly used Uber/Lyft for "last mile" transportation. I replaced "all driving" with largely public transportation. I probably spent an average of ~$300/mo on Uber/Lyft which would account of my parking premium + insurance.

That said, I will concede I'm in a unique position. This legislation isn't completely onerous on me.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#86

Post by deadmik3 » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

kaesar14 wrote: post #23

I'm not wholly convinced drivers were ever really contractors, but by what measure are drivers employees? We really need a third classification

a 3rd classification isn't enough. employment is a spectrum just like gender and policies need to reflect that. politicians are so stuck in the old binary way of thinking

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#87

Post by azinman2 » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

oliverx0 wrote: post #46

milofeynman wrote: post #32

I don't know if you're genuine or not but the way you wrote this post sounds so utterly inauthentic[0]. You're whimsically sad you can't get more fun money to invest in stock, while the reason that ride sharing is being shut down is because it takes advantage of the lower class it depends on. [0]edit: unauthentic->inauthentic

He is giving his point of view based on past experience. A lot of drivers see Uber as helpful side money, and that seems quite genuine. Those who see Uber this away are indeed seeing this opportunity taken away.

How do you know “Danny” identifies as a “he”?

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#88

Post by tedivm » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

ItMayWorkTryIt wrote: post #20

rodiger wrote: post #2

Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Doesn't seem like it would be feasible to maintain all drivers as employees.

Definitely not feasible to keep drivers on as employees legally. Some issues that come to mind that seem incredibly hard for uber/lyft to enforce but are mandatory for California employees: * Meal & rest breaks * Callback pay * Split Shift premiums * Reporting premium (if you show up to work, but less work to do than half your scheduled shift) The only way I see this working is somebody started some "Driver Pool" com…

AB5 explicitly allowed for flexible hours- it did not require "shifts" like you're talking about. It made allowances to give drivers the flexibility they want, but Uber and Lyft are upset that it also requires them to provide the option for insurance and that they'd have to pay into the unemployment pool.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#89

Post by rileytg » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #30

nemothekid wrote: post #9

When I moved to CA, I put off getting a CA license for years. I always told myself I'd go to the DMV and do the paperwork, then I waited long enough to find out I would have to retake the test, until finally I just resigned to using Uber and Lyft all the time. I never thought I would need it and so I never made it a priority. So this news really sucks, as you haven't been able to schedule DMV appointments at all and…

The average person's response to being told they'd have to take another driver's test isn't to replace driving with Uber/Lyft. You're in a unique position to be able to afford to replace all driving with ridesharing, since gas+insurance+maintenance costs are much lower than say, a month of commuting to an office via rideshare.

This is not true for everyone. I track my ride share spending and it’s significantly lower than owning a car. I spend less that $200 a month on average (2019 avg was $196).

I’m in a unique position to do this, because i put myself in that position. i moved near my work and live in an urban area.

even if it cost $400 a month, i would still do it this way. i read when i’m in the car, i wouldn’t trade that for staring at the road.

Re: Rideshare operations are being suspended in California

#90

Post by superfamicom » Thu, Aug 20, 2020, 4:47 PM UTC

I've met a few drivers in Seattle who offered their own rates via text pickup. I used this to get to the airport once. I wonder how many drivers in California were doing the same thing knowing this was on the way- get your local clients and build trust and start their own mini ride service- assuming you know how to use Venmo and the like.