I thought the whole point of Uber and Lyft was that didn't have to be full-time occupations.
Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
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Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#12I almost hope that Lyft is orchestrating all of this behind the scenes.
It would be such an Uber-move.
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#13What would it take for somebody to just build a free, open-source matchmaking service for drivers and riders? It doesn't seem like what Lyft or Uber offer is very technically demanding (perhaps doing it at scale is), and presumably you could attract a lot more drivers by offering them the chance to keep ~99% of the fare. The existence of Lyft demonstrates that Uber's first-mover advantage isn't insurmountable, so who…
The value is in the network of riders and drivers not in the software. The big value for the drivers comes when you can minimize the time gaps between rides, and for riders to be able to get pickups down.
Lyft was actually the first mover on the the UberX product category, Uber was only doing premium service when Lyft started growing.
Ultimately this market is a race to the smallest commissions possible. There are costs involved like credit card processing, insurance, operations, etc. I could see commissions going down to 5%.
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#14The really interesting story here is that if drivers are so willing to switch networks for better opportunities, there isn't a compelling reason for Uber to have the valuation that they do.
The value of Uber isn't really in the tech or the app - it's in the networks of riders and drivers in each city. If each of those can be aggregated into some other kind of service, where Uber, Lyft, etc. are just providers of payment processing, and possibly some operations expertise, that middleman network will capture all of the value.
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#15Update -- Uber reverses policy: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/09/12/uber_drivers_...
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#16Statists, take notice of how improvements in work conditions come from competition and not from regulation. They're better off now than through the monopoly of taxi medallions.
Why am I being modded down?
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#17It's great to see how easy it is for drivers to switch networks if they are unhappy, but drivers have to understand that prices are going down and they'll likely earn less money over time on all networks.
When articles are posted about Uber drivers earning $90k/yr, I'm sure many folks quit their $40k office job and hit the road. The thing is, driving taxi is pretty low skilled so the growing supply of drivers will really push down their income. There's an efficiency problem when an Uber driver "can earn" more than 75% of Americans, and existing drivers have been reaping the benefits of those inefficiencies.
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#18It's great to see how easy it is for drivers to switch networks if they are unhappy, but drivers have to understand that prices are going down and they'll likely earn less money over time on all networks. When articles are posted about Uber drivers earning $90k/yr, I'm sure many folks quit their $40k office job and hit the road. The thing is, driving taxi is pretty low skilled so the growing supply of drivers will re…
Even if $90K a year is sustainable, driving a taxi is a very high-expense business. You'll drive your car into the ground far quicker than you did before, insurance is going to be insanely expensive (an UberX driver I talked to once told me his insurance is $7K a year), and gasoline isn't free (and getting less and less free every day).
The take-home from $90K driving taxis is very different than the take-home from $90K sitting at a desk.
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#19I thought the whole point of Uber and Lyft was that didn't have to be full-time occupations.
Many folks do it full-time because it pays more than the their other job. There are also incentives if they driver full-time hours.
Re: Uber Drivers “Strike” and Switch to Lyft Over Fares and Conditions
#20This is how capitalism works, survival of the fittest. If someone comes along that allows the drivers to make more money, prudent drivers will likely switch to that service. It is a no brainer.
It's amusing because fewer drivers online will trigger multiplier, thus increasing their pay.
Yeah, but that pisses off passengers and drives them to try Uber competitors.