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Are Uber And Lyft Finally Doing More To Help Rideshare Drivers?

One of my biggest beefs with Uber and Lyft over the past few months has been their lack of attention and care to drivers.  Sure, we all know that this is at will employment but it’s nice to feel like your voice is being heard once in a while and that the company you work for actually cares about your well-being.  Lyft (and Uber to some extent) has made some nice changes that we’ve highlighted over the past couple months but there have always been the big glaring issues like taxes, insurance, deductibles, etc that have yet to be resolved or even addressed.

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I know it’s not in the best interest of the TNC’s to disclose information and explain policies but I can always hope right?  One of the goals of my site though is to bring a lot of these issues to the table and figure out some solutions.  I know there may be a few Lyft and Uber employees who read this blog too so if they want to steal an idea or two be my guest.  I’m all for anything that’s going to help drivers and for the first time in a while, this week’s stories were highlighted by some good developments for drivers. [Read more…]

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Friday Rideshare Roundup: Will Lyft Ever Be Able To Compete With Uber?

(Editor’s Note: I’ve had a lot of fun doing the round-ups again for these past few weeks but I wanted to reach out to my readers today and let you know that I’m looking for someone to take over this weekly segment.  So if you or someone you know, is passionate about rideshare and likes staying up to date on all of the latest industry news/trends, feel free to reach out to me via e-mail and we’ll see if it’s a good fit.)

Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen Uber cut rates, offer ‘enticing’ fare guarantees and lure Lyft drivers away with a $500 bonus.  If I had to guess, I’d say all of these moves were in part to continue rapid driver/passenger growth (for a 2015/2016 IPO) but also to try and smother Lyft.  Lyft’s response to all this has been to reduce fares in 10 cities and introduce a new type of stache.

I’ve heard a lot of drivers express the sentiment that things will get better once Lyft is gone.  But more wrong, they could not be.  Competition is a good thing for drivers and although it may not look like it right now, I can assure you that competition will eventually start to benefit drivers.  You never want to depend on just one source of income, since as we’ve seen, Uber can lower rates at the drop of a hat, and we are almost powerless to stop them (for now at least).

Lyft has quietly been raising some funding of their own though too and while it’s not in the billion dollar range, they’ve still got a few hundred million to play around with.  Heck, even Sidecar raised a few million last year so while it may seem like these two are going to be drowned out by Uber, I think they are both here to stay.  They likely won’t ever compete head to head with Uber but I do think they stand a chance and their existence will continue to benefit us drivers.

On to the top rideshare stories of the week…

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Friday Rideshare Roundup: Uber Against The World

Over the past few months, Uber has faced a slew of bad publicity.  They’ve had to deal with everything from rape allegations and issues with inadequate background checks to things beyond even their own control: like riders who are too dumb to know how surge pricing works.

Uber’s laissez faire attitude towards the media has never really been a problem though.  Sure, they get lots of bad press, but it’s never affected their growth (that statement is backed up by 40 billion of their friends), until now.

Uber has always been a growth-focused company and when things get in the way of that growth, they tend to take notice.  This week, Uber hosted a media only event at a swanky bar in downtown San Francisco where they embarked on their journey of trying to win the media over (my invited must have gotten lost in the mail).

It’s probably a smart move by Uber because we all have an image of a faceless corporate entity but in reality there are lots of likable people that work there.  We just don’t get to interact with them and Uber doesn’t let them out of their cages until after dark 🙂 [Read more…]

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Friday Roundup: Uber Cuts Rates in 48 Cities

Before I dig in, I just wanted to give a quick shout-out and word of thanks to Jack Ross who’s been doing the round-ups for the past few months pro-bono and been doing a great job at that.  Jack is moving on to bigger and better things at VICE as a sports contributor so today I’ll be handling the round-up.

Well the big news in rideshare happened yesterday afternoon when Uber announced a slew of fare cuts in 48 cities across the US.  Most cuts were in the 10-25% range but there were a few cities that saw their mileage rate cut in half.  Along with the cuts, Uber also rolled out a guarantee for peak hours that ranged from $14-$20/hr depending on the city and a guarantee for non-peak hours that ranged from $10-$14/hr.  This number is before Uber’s 20-25% commission so you can see that these guarantees aren’t really guaranteeing a whole lot.

Uber’s Announcement: Beating The Winter Slump

I’ll be releasing an in-depth YouTube video this weekend (now live below) with my thoughts on the whole situation but for now I think a wait and see approach is best.  Obviously there are a lot of drivers who are upset and for good reason, but the only thing I can possibly think of as to why Uber has made these cuts is to get more passengers out on the road.  As many of you have probably realized, the beginning of the year is a slow time for rideshare (especially compared to the Holidays) drivers and Uber is all about growth. [Read more…]

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FRIDAY RIDESHARE ROUNDUP: An Uber and Lyft War of Words from the New York Times

Looks like #Ubergate is finally starting to fade from our memories but that doesn’t mean there still wasn’t plenty to talk about this week.  Today, RSG contributor Jack Ross takes a look at all of the top stories from this week in rideshare.

Let’s go to the videotape!

The NY Times Takes A Careful, Critical Shot at Uber’s Blend of Sketchy Morality and Big Data Hoarding

“We already regulate sensitive data, ranging from health records to financial information. We must update oversight for 21st-century data as well. When we’re picked up on a rainy street corner, it’s not enough to know where the car is going. We need to know where our data is going, and how it’s used.”

The NY Times Takes A Soft, Condescending Shot at Lyft’s Overly Warm and Cuddly Branding

“Lyft’s overall design just comes across as tacky,” says Nick Adler of Cashmere Agency. “There’s a line between playful and juvenile,” said some guy who used to work at Foursquare. [Read more…]