An analysis of the individual economics of ride-hailing drivers

Alejandro Henao and Wesley E. Marshall

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2019, vol. 130, issue C, 440-451

Abstract: Ride-hailing companies are disrupting transportation at a large scale while also providing economic opportunities to millions of drivers. Companies such as Uber and Lyft constantly promote potential earnings on the order of $25–$35 per hour. Yet, the advertised earnings do not account for factors such as time spent without passengers, the need to travel back-and-forth between areas of low and high ridership, driver residential location, or driving expenses. By examining a unique and detailed dataset collected using ethnographic methods – primary data collected by one of the authors who became an independent contractor to drive for both Uber and Lyft in the Denver area – we examine actual earnings with three common expense scenarios to answer the question of how much ride-hailing drivers actually earn.

Keywords: TNCs; Ride-hailing; Ridesourcing; Uber; Lyft; Sharing Economy; Minimum Wage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2019.09.056

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