Uber and Lyft don't cover their cost of capital and rely on desperate workers
Uber and Lyft are only economically viable because they offload their cost of capital -- the investment and depreciation on cars and the cost of keeping a driver fed and healthy -- onto the drivers,...
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Lyft to challenge Uber with self-driving cars, launching first in Boston
We already know Uber's been investing millions of dollars in the future of self-driving. Now Lyft is making similar moves, including a partnership with Boston-based nuTonomy, a self-driving car startup...
View ArticleWatch 'The Lyft Rapper' co-create music with his passengers
Shakespeare wrote that "All the world's a stage." But for Oakland, California-based Ashel Eldridge, he's made his car his stage. Dubbed "The Lyft Rapper," he invites his passengers to choose a topic...
View ArticleSurge-taxing Uber as a way relieve urban congestion
Every city where Uber and Lyft have found a foothold has also faced impossible congestion in the city center; Felix Salmon says this is because drivers are incentivized to come to the city-center...
View ArticleRealtor claims Uber and Lyft erode the premium homebuyers pay for good public...
Leonard Steinberg, a longstanding New York City luxury property broker, claims that the existence of Uber and Lyft has blunted the premium that buyers were willing to pay to live in neighborhoods with...
View ArticleUber and Lyft agree to stop forcing driver sexual assault victims into...
Ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft have now both stated that they will no longer force victims of sexual assault into non-binding arbitration, as has been the practice of both firms until today. Lyft...
View ArticleFor most people, driving for Uber or Lyft just ain't worth it
After a long day of driving for Uber and Lyft, this fella decided to work out exactly how much money he'd be taking home after paying taxes and expenses on his income as an independent contractor....
View ArticleRelying on a ridesharing gig to make money ain't what it used to be
Making a living as an Uber or Lyft driver can be tough. An over saturated market, having too few people in need of your services, paying to maintain your ride and the high cost of gas can all take a...
View ArticleStudy blames Uber/Lyft for San Francisco traffic, Uber/Lyft blames Amazon,...
A new report from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority attributes the majority (51%-73%) of the prodigious 2010-2016 increase in San Francisco traffic congestion on Uber and Lyft; the...
View ArticleLyft, Stripe spend lavishly to kill San Francisco's homelessness relief measure
San Francisco has a homelessness epidemic that is both heartrending and a threat to public health, and it has only worsened for decades, and continues to get worse even now. There are many different...
View ArticleLyft offers grocery ride discount to people living in 'food deserts'
If you live in an area where grocery stores are easily accessible, count yourself lucky. There are large areas of the United States where food choices are limited to what can be found at fast food...
View ArticleShutdown creates uncertainty over Uber and Lyft IPO timing
Uber and Lyft are still waiting for feedback from the U.S. securities regulator on their confidential submissions for IPOs, Bloomberg reports tonight, citing people familiar with the matter who aren't...
View ArticleA short list of "all the bad things" about Uber and Lyft
Angie Schmitt's list of "all the bad things" about Uber and Lyft only touches on transportation, leaving aside the companies' labor, taxation, regulatory and other issues, but it's still quite a...
View ArticleNew York City's new rideshare regs put Big Brother in backseat, give GPS...
Whether you love them or hate them, rideshares like Uber and Lyft have become a daily part of life for millions of New Yorkers. These app-based services make it easy to pay for your ride, but while...
View ArticleIPOs have sent Uber and Lyft fares skyrocketing, while driver pay plummets
The public markets are hungry: as Uber and Lyft look to IPOs to let their investors -- who have been subsidizing 40-50% of every ride -- redeem their shares through sales to the public capital...
View ArticleUber drivers across America are going on strike -- UPDATED
Update: Shona from Gig Workers Rising clarifies: "Gig Workers Rising isn't organizing the national day of action. Drivers in each of the 6 cities taking action are coordinating the day of action...
View ArticleThe empirical impact of Lyft and Uber on cities: congestion (especially...
Mike Moffitt sums up the empirical work on the impact of rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft for cities: an increase in congestion, especially downtown, especially during "surges" (Uber and Lyft...
View ArticleNow that Uber and Lyft are public, their inevitable financial collapse is...
Veteran transportation economics Hubert Horan has consistently published the best-informed, deepest critiques of Uber and Lyft, explaining how the companies can never, ever be profitable, and warning...
View ArticleUber projected $8b in losses for 2019, but it just booked $5.2b in losses in...
Uber says it can be profitable someday: all it needs to do is corner the "total addressable market" for all transportation and food delivery, which will give it $12t in annual revenue, which is 15% of...
View ArticleUber and Lyft slashed driver pay in recent years more than publicly reported:...
It's rough out there for Uber and Lyft contract drivers. And getting rougher. Based on data from some 14,756 fares, Jalopnik reports that in recent years the ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft have...
View ArticleUber and Lyft gouge their drivers
I hear endless stories of grief from the friends I have who try to make ends meet working for these services. Jalopnik's Dhruv Mehrotra and Aaron Gordon share the terrible economics: But Dave, who was...
View ArticleRideshare companies' effort to kill California employment bill is failing...
California's Assembly Bill 5 isn't radical: it merely affirms the obvious fact that Uber and Lyft drivers (and other "gig economy" workers) are employees, something that the California Supreme Court...
View ArticleUber general counsel threatens California: pass a law that makes drivers into...
AB5 is about to pass the California legislature: it forces companies like Lyft and Uber to comply with the longstanding Dynamex decision and treat their employees as employees. Uber and Lyft hate...
View ArticleWant a ride in a Lyft? Just sign away your right to sue if they kill, maim,...
Spotted today in my Lyft app: a new set of terms and conditions that require you to "agree" to binding arbitration (an onerous condition heretofore reserved for downtrodden drivers), through which you...
View ArticleOnly 35% of Uber/Lyft riders always tip
The problem with tipping is that employers pay employees less than they should. I much prefer the way things work in Japan, where there is no tipping and no uncertainty. That said, until restaurants,...
View ArticleLyft said their names are offensive. Candice Poon, Cara Dick, and Mike Finger...
The ride-sharing company Lyft flagged certain users' real names as offensive content, and told a number of individuals including Candice Poon, Cara Dick, and Mike Finger that they were ordered to get...
View ArticleI reported a passenger for farting in our shared Lyft and now we've been...
I took a Shared Lyft home the other night, rather than waiting for the bus. There were two other passengers in the car when I got in — a woman in the backseat, and a man in the front. The man was...
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Judge to Uber and Lyft: Your drivers are employees, so deal with it
In a win for those forced to navigate the rideshare gig economy, a California judge has ruled that Uber and Lyft must treat drivers as employees, not independent contractors. Via NPR: The judge said...
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Uber and Lyft to pay $328 million for stealing from their drivers
Of the incalculable amount of money stolen from drivers by Uber and Lyft through various accounting shenanigans, $328m will be paid back to them and their lawyers in a settlement announced earlier this...
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Uber and Lyft say they'll leave Minneapolis rather than pay drivers its new...
Minneapolis passed a law requiring rideshare companies to pay its drivers more. Uber and Lyft say they'd rather leave. Lyft and Uber said they will cease operations in Minneapolis after the city's...
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