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What Would Happen to Uber & Lyft if the Economy Went Downhill?

A lot has happened since Uber and Lyft were founded, but one thing that has remained constant: the economy has been doing well during most of their growth phase. Every traditional metric –  GDP, stock market and unemployment rates – has shifted healthily since both companies launched their ridesharing services in 2013 and 2014.

But with political tensions and looming international tariffs, it feels like everybody is bracing for an economic downturn. Uber and Lyft’s teams especially must be focused on this, with their IPOs coming soon in 2019. And while I’ll refer primarily to Uber from here on out (since they’re the top dog in the rideshare world) a lot of the same dynamics should also apply to Lyft. They tend to follow in Uber’s footsteps anyways.

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Uber’s Ambitious and Expensive Plan to Get Self-Driving Technology

Join us for our March YouTube live on Tuesday March 19 at 4:30 pm PT!  You can subscribe to our Youtube channel here and be sure to turn on notifications (instructions here) so you know when we go live.

Remember the almost settled Uber lawsuit from 2016? It looks like things have changed a little, and not necessarily in drivers’ favor. Senior RSG contributor John Ince covers that news, plus Uber’s unsustainable spending and more in this week’s round up.

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How To Do Your 2018 Uber & Lyft Driver Taxes Using Turbotax

Tax season is here, and you might have a lot of questions about how to incorporate your rideshare (or delivery) income on your taxes. Here, senior RSG contributor Jay Cradeur shows us how to file your Uber and Lyft taxes in 2019 using TurboTax.

It is that time of the year again – time to do your taxes.  Fortunately, with all the information you get from Uber, Lyft and The Rideshare Guy, it shouldn’t take you more than a few hours to get those taxes done.

Let’s get these taxes done today!  I will break our tax project into eight easy and digestible steps.

Note:  I am not a tax expert. You should definitely do your own due diligence before turning in your tax return.

Watch Jay prepare his 2018 taxes in action with the video, and follow along with his step-by-step instructions below.

 

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How To Start An Electric Scooter Rental Business Like Bird & Lime

E-scooters seemed to pop up out of nowhere and have been spreading around the US like wildfire – but what does it take to build a scooter company? Today we have a guest post from Asher Meyers on what it would take to build a successful and potentially profitable scooter company.

The scooter startups Lime and Bird have sunk hundreds of millions on building and deploying scooter fleets all over the world. Uber, Lyft, Skip and Spin have joined their ranks. How could the average Joe possibly run with the bulls, without tens of millions in funding?

These firms, particularly Bird and Lime, have had to spend on big fixed, upfront costs — things like:

  • Vehicle hardware design
  • Logistics software, to coordinate charging, deployment, repairs and legal compliance for scooters
  • The app, which people use to unlock the scooters
  • Lobbying local and state governments

All of these have classic ‘economies of scale’ — build it for one scooter or 10,000, and it costs a lot either way. They’re barriers to entry — hurdles that make it hard for new firms to form and compete.

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Does Uber and Lyft Value New or Experienced Drivers More?

The debate between new and veteran Uber/Lyft drivers rages on: which type of driver does Uber/Lyft value more? It turns out, that question is more complicated than it seems. Senior RSG contributor John Ince breaks down this question from the perspective of the companies and the passengers. Which type of driver do you think Uber/Lyft prefers? And do you think new or experienced drivers get more pings?

The question ‘do Uber/Lyft prefer experienced or new drivers’ seems to have a pretty easy answer, right? Of course Uber/Lyft would want more experienced (in terms of knowing their city and how to handle pax) drivers, right? It turns out, there is more to this question than it seems. If you don’t believe me, take a look at my last article on whether or not Uber/Lyft prefer full time or part time drivers. For this article, I’m going to approach it from two primary perspectives: the company and the passenger.

Disclaimer:  I have no first hand knowledge how Uber/Lyft feel about this, so this article is based entirely on my speculation about their thinking.

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