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Earlier quoted context omitted.
It does not.
Not to mention that, as a contractor, they have to pay SS and Medicare payroll taxes, which total an additional 7.65%. So, that $20/hour, given the overall expenses, is probably not even equivalent to the new NYC minimum wage of $15/hour.
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Not all. The large majority, but not all. There are very likely one or two drivers in the area that don't participate, simply because they aren't in the parking lot at the moment they orchestrate the mass logout. Surge pricing is about supply and demand, so if expected demand is high (like at an airport) they need a lot more than one or two drivers.
Maybe not all, but I wouldn't be surpised to see someone "not participating" txting a buddy "prices up". Someone has to check it to make sure it is working.
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Their hands may be a bit tied on addressing this issue, because if they start rejecting drivers based on when they choose to work, it's hard to call them contractors.
Isn't that exactly what you get to do with contractors? One of your criteria in picking a contractor is showing up. Kind of a problem, I'm told, with housing contractors. And as with housing contractors, the best way to get them to show up is to offer more money than their other offers.
You can attempt to rewrite the contracts to change the allowed and encouraged behaviors, but the more restrictions added, the more it starts to smell like an employer-employee relationship--and that will kill Uber and Lyft stone dead.
What's the rational for percentage based fees? The technology cost for a 4 mile ride is the same for a 50 mile ride.
That's really all they (and, to be honest, most "marketplace" tech companies) need to say. They have the customers; here are our terms. It kinda really sucks, because the quality incentive goes out the window.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe not all, but I wouldn't be surpised to see someone "not participating" txting a buddy "prices up". Someone has to check it to make sure it is working.
Couldn't they check using the passenger app?
If so then yeah, but I'm not sure they're always 1:1.
> They can’t afford to pickup people at Reagan for $4 in rush hour traffic. Are they really getting paid $4 to give someone a ride? That seems so low that drivers would be incentivized to find another job.
I'm not sure if the number is accurate but I do know how amazingly stubborn humans can be in finding a new job. I've had people refuse to quit a job that they groan about every day when I've offered them almost double the salary to work elsewhere with far better terms. Humans are risk averse and those who live paycheck to paycheck are especially so. It defies logic until you consider that their fear of the unknown +…
It's the same reason municipalities are dropping jail time for unpaid fines, etc, as hourly workers that miss one day of work unexpectedly are often fired and then end up in even more financial misfortune.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to mention that, as a contractor, they have to pay SS and Medicare payroll taxes, which total an additional 7.65%. So, that $20/hour, given the overall expenses, is probably not even equivalent to the new NYC minimum wage of $15/hour.
FICA tax rate for self-employed under $128k/yr is 15.3%. Effective tax rates for self-employed workers can reach close to 50%.
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Not exactly. The percentage that Lyft takes is the same, so Lyft actually makes more money from these price-hikes. The ones suffering are the passengers.
This assumes an inelastic demand curve. DCA has other options, such as taxis. (edited s/elastic/inelastic - I dun goofed. Thanks, Erik!)
Great point - they could be loosing a lot of passengers to taxis
This seems like it could also torpedo their Contractor vs. Employee argument. Contractors get to set rates, employees don't. So you can't say they're contractors AND accuse them of committing fraud when they try to set their own rates. Now if only someone would develop an app that does this for entire cities. The app could be their version of a union.
Personally I think they should be considered employees, but a pro-management federal prosecutor could make some trouble for them.