UBER / Lyft

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Road Guy

Road Guy

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So I was at a transportation conference and one of the less boring speakers had done some research on the effect of uber vehicles on the road. I will  summarize without any links cause I don't have them but it was pretty interesting.  The "study" was from some recent phd's who also drove as uber drivers for a year while they did some of their research.

These were Denver Numbers:

Average Drivers are making (gross) $15 an hour in Metro Area. After you factor in wear and tear on your vehicle, gas, etc they are making $7.50 / hour (less than Colorado minimum wage). Like a lot of people they are not factoring in the true cost they are experiencing.

Uber is converting trips that used to be walking / biking / transit trips to vehicle trips resulting in increased traffic on roads.

Basically the study said the main people benefiting from uber are people out to drink, people not wanting to drive to places where parking is expensive / dangerous, or for trips to the airport...

look for the transit police to kill these companies of soon :D

 
Road Guy said:
So I was at a transportation conference and one of the less boring speakers had done some research on the effect of uber vehicles on the road. I will  summarize without any links cause I don't have them but it was pretty interesting.  The "study" was from some recent phd's who also drove as uber drivers for a year while they did some of their research.

These were Denver Numbers:

Average Drivers are making (gross) $15 an hour in Metro Area. After you factor in wear and tear on your vehicle, gas, etc they are making $7.50 / hour (less than Colorado minimum wage). Like a lot of people they are not factoring in the true cost they are experiencing.

Uber is converting trips that used to be walking / biking / transit trips to vehicle trips resulting in increased traffic on roads.

Basically the study said the main people benefiting from uber are people out to drink, people not wanting to drive to places where parking is expensive / dangerous, or for trips to the airport...

look for the transit police to kill these companies of soon :D
Click to expand...
Absolutely correct.   My neighbors and I use uber all the time to go out for beers.   I use uber to get to the airport all the time other than day trips. 

 
I was kind of surprised how little money these drivers are making. I know a lot of people do it as a part time job but it just doesn't seem worth your trouble, considering both my kids are working part time jobs for $10 an hour with almost the least amount of responsibility possible!

 
Road Guy said:
I was kind of surprised how little money these drivers are making. I know a lot of people do it as a part time job but it just doesn't seem worth your trouble, considering both my kids are working part time jobs for $10 an hour with almost the least amount of responsibility possible!
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That's why I always tip them even though you're not require to. 

 
Ouch indeed!

I use exclusively Lyft (used Uber in the past, but stopped using them long before they found themselves in the news). Most of my Lyft usage are to go out to dinner or drinking, or to go somewhere where I know parking is nearly impossible. Occasionally, I do it to get home from appointments when there is no good way to bike, drive, or take Muni there.

I can't say I'm really that surprised that they are making so little money, though. I wonder how these numbers would compare to other parts of the country.

 
Several of the guys here use Uber instead of Taxi's because they're half the cost. For me to get to the project site (one way), it's either a 30-min walk, a $15 taxi ride, or a $7 Uber. The company has a couple of pool cars, but they're always booked. We're actually encouraged to use Uber or Taxis instead of getting another pool vehicle.

 
I just used Uber everywhere in Miami and loved it.  After a taxi was late, my coworker ordered up an Uber and the Uber arrived a minute or two before the cab did, which we had been waiting 25+ minutes for after calling it in an hour ahead.  After some soup-nazi style motherf*cking for "wasting his time" from the useless cab driver, we enjoyed a trip to dinner in a plush Infiniti SUV for less than half the cost of the taxi.  We drank heavily the rest of the week and used Uber for all of it.  And not having to wait for them to swipe the company credit card and handle paper receipts was the bees knees.

 
Uber has pretty much failed here.  The majority of the people who would use it are on post and they have declared the policy that uber drivers must register like the taxis to get on post.  Of course a retiree, spouse or active duty could skirt that system by using their ID card anyway, but non-military related people would have to pay like $300 a year for the pass to get on post.  

 
We have a friend in the Berkley area who just quit his part time job to drive for Uber exclusively. Apparently if you go full time there are perks that aren't seen at the part-time level. He's still looking for an actual full time job, but in the meantime full time in the SF area is paying the bills. 

I can imagine why Denver isn't great. We were in LoDo on a Wednesday two weeks ago and the pedicab guys were working for tips. It was dead. 

Also, I just read an article in ITE or some jazz about Uber/Lyft are increasing traffic on the road in a substantial way. It is true- trips that would have been taken by transit or other modes are now being done by passenger vehicle. 

 
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^^ East Bay cost of living <<<< West Bay cost of living. Even in Berkeley.

Still, I am with RG. Cities will start to take their share when they realize what is going on.

 
I imagine the money the drivers are making is the same for most decent sized cities. From what little I have used UBER it seems like there are more drivers than customers.  & I do prefer to use uber over a cab, I just think uber is keeping the fares lower to be the obvious choice compared to a cab ride & eventually people will come to realize they are not really making as much money when the factor in the cost of the wear and tear on their vehicle.

But say I take uber to the airport instead of driving their myself and paying for parking. This saves me money but instead of 1 trip to the airport now its 2 trips to the airport.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Road Guy said:
I imagine the money the drivers are making is the same for most decent sized cities. From what little I have used UBER it seems like there are more drivers than customers.  & I do prefer to use uber over a cab, I just think uber is keeping the fares lower to be the obvious choice compared to a cab ride & eventually people will come to realize they are not really making as much money when the factor in the cost of the wear and tear on their vehicle.

But say I take uber to the airport instead of driving their myself and paying for parking. This saves me money but instead of 1 trip to the airport now its 2 trips to the airport.
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but parking at Logan is $29/day, so if you'r going for several days even a cab is cheaper than driving yourself and leaving the car at the airport.

 
MA_PE said:
but parking at Logan is $29/day, so if you'r going for several days even a cab is cheaper than driving yourself and leaving the car at the airport.
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Holy crap!  Charlotte is cheaper even if you park in the hourly deck for a full day!

 
I was going for the "more cars on the road' versus the cost angle...

there is a guy in our subdivision who ferry's people back and forth to the airport for $30 bucks. He is basically offering an unlicensed taxi service

 
There's also a fee paid to the airport by taxi and shuttle services. It's part of the FAA's mandate for funding sources. That's why a "real" cab cost more than an Uber driver to go to the airport. 

 
csb said:
There's also a fee paid to the airport by taxi and shuttle services. It's part of the FAA's mandate for funding sources. That's why a "real" cab cost more than an Uber driver to go to the airport. 
Click to expand...
I never understood how Uber and the like got away without paying those.  some cities have the same thing just to operate in the limits but then comes in uber and they don't have to pay..

 
snickerd3 said:
I never understood how Uber and the like got away without paying those.  some cities have the same thing just to operate in the limits but then comes in uber and they don't have to pay..
Click to expand...
I think its just a case of the law not having caught up yet.

 

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