The Six-Dollar Five-Dollar Ride
For an Uber driver, few things are worse than the five-dollar ride. Pukers definitely take the top spot, but they are nowhere near as common as the dreaded short rides.
In San Francisco, Uber charges a base fare of $2.20, $0.26 a minute and a $1.30 each mile. (When I first drafted this post a week ago, the rate was three dollars base, thirty cents each minute and a $1.50 a mile—that’s how quickly the rates are going down). The minimum fare is five dollars (previously six dollars). So anything under a mile is a five-dollar ride.
Of course, we only see 80 percent of that five-dollar fare. And it’s not like we get any tips to make up for the short ride. (Though maybe one day that will change.)
Five-dollar rides are hardly worth the effort. When you factor in gas, the time and effort spent driving to the passenger’s location, waiting for them to saunter outside, get into the car, give you directions and then drive them to their destination, that minimum fare ends up costing the driver more than the passenger.
People who take short rides know they are wasting our time. They often apologize when they get in the car.
“I’m only going a few blocks. Sorry.”
Technology is all about creating convenience. It makes us lazy. Uber is capitalizing on this culture of laziness by making rides so cheap. Why walk a few blocks when you can take an Uber for five bucks? Forget driver-less cars. Uber is now competing with the bus. The SF Muni costs $2.25. And unless you live on a bus line, you’ll still have a little walking to do. The horror! For most new San Franciscans, five dollars is a drop in the bucket. In a town where rent for a one-bedroom is over three thousand dollars, that’s pocket change. Most people make decent money. They can afford a few extra dollars. So why the hell not take an Uber?
Passengers don’t think about the consequences these five-dollar rides have on drivers. We do the short rides and keep our mouths shut, giving off the impression that we’re happy to do it. But convenience comes with a price and the person providing the convenience usually pays that price. Rideshares are great for the companies and users. But the drivers are fucked! The whole concept of Uber as some sort of “disruptor” is a farce. All Uber has done is become the very system they were trying to replace, except at a cheaper price and at the expense of drivers.
Low Fares Are Not Fair!
As Uber drivers, we are doing the jobs of cab drivers. Plain and simple. But we are paid less, we use our own cars, we are judged by an unfair rating system, we take almost all the risks, and we’re even denied a gratuity, one of the cornerstones of the service industry.
I recently read a post on an Uber Facebook group from a disgruntled driver who suggested we call passengers before we pick them up to find out where they’re going. That way we can decide whether to take the ride or cancel it. Since drivers can face deactivation if they reject or cancel too many rides, the poster even implied that he had a trick for getting passengers to cancel themselves, so it wouldn’t affect our ride acceptance rate.
Not a bad idea. We already see the passengers’ ratings, so we can reject rides based on that. Or the pickup location. Having the freedom to choose rides based on final destination would be a godsend!
Uber could easily install a feature that required passengers to input their destination. Right now it’s only voluntary and when passengers do add the address, the driver can’t see the location until the ride has started. Uber obviously knows that if drivers were able to see where a passenger is going we’d be more likely to cancel the short rides and wait for the longer, more lucrative ones. This activity dismantles the entire rideshare system. The whole point of Uber and Lyft is the ability to request a car and for it to actually show up.
Before Uber and Lyft, cab drivers were free to pick and chose a ride based on a passenger’s appearance, their level of sobriety and yes, destination. If they didn’t want to drive to a particular area of the city, they just didn’t let you into the cab. That’s the system these rideshare start-ups are trying to disrupt. Now Uber drivers are figuring out how to beat them at their own game by getting back to the way things were before. Because maybe, just maybe, that system wasn’t so flawed to begin with.
Cab drivers know that most people suck. They have to be particular. Uber drivers are beginning to realize the same thing. But we don’t have that luxury.
A passenger once asked me, when I was complaining about short rides, whether rideshare users would take cabs if Uber and Lyft weren’t around. Some would, sure, I said, but most people would probably take public transportation. They’d walk. Or they’d ride a bike.
I pointed out the example of surge pricing. When the prices are low, passengers are happy to request an Uber without a second thought. And the ride requests come in one after another. But anytime the prices are surging, the requests slow down to a trickle. Suddenly taking a stroll through the beautiful streets of San Francisco doesn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.
It’s time to face facts, by continuing to lower their fares, Uber is perpetuating a culture of laziness. And they are benefiting from it with a seventeen forty billion dollar valuation. Uber is the darling of Silicon Valley. But drivers are paying an even greater price. So… what’s the going rate for self-worth these days?
I Drive S.F. 
I’m here visiting my brother
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My god you uber drivers are just so god damn sad! You should all be on your knees thanking us for even taking your service and paying you that god damn $4 you need to buy toilet paper you’re very god damn welcomed by the way! If you want to make more money you need to put on a god damn smile and provide me with a backseat whore to suck my C**k while you drive for $4 while asking me if I’m enjoying the ride every 30 seconds. then maybe just god damn maybe I will tip you 1$ there! now you can afford tampons for your wife! $2 bonus if I’m allowed to come all over the back of your head as your drive!
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People who drive a car for a living are a waste of oxegyn. Can’t wait for robots to replace you uneducated, whiny fuckbags.
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While some of us are making honest money you troll the internet all day actually being a whiny fuckbag…O and the correct way to spell it is oxygen….just so you dont sound stupid while calling someone else uneducated.
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Broke both my legs. Kill yourself you cancerous fuckhole.
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I drove 8 miles for a 2.32 ride. Drivers will not put up with this.
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Uber and Lyft riders are CHEAP asses
Take a taxi next time
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Agree completely. I drive for uber a few times a week in Boston, and with the new low prices, the vast majority of the rides are now in the $5-7 range. It’s a waste of time. I used to make $120-$140 working about four hours overnight to early morning. Now I’m lucky to make about $80 for the same hours. Uber doesn’t care about its drivers. It is aggressively lowering the rates to literally try to compete with the subway and the bus. Uber is like the playground drug dealer, trying to make people addicted.
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Hmmm. So it sounds like you want to be a real cabbie… so go be one!
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Hello!
We’ve met (at the zine-fest) – and you said nice stuff about my baby-boy. You’ve read and critiqued some of what I’ve written – and you were nice about it. And you can write, are interested in the world and are an interesting person.
That’s why I hate the idea of you – or any other decent human being – serving at the leisure and pleasure of the pestiferous passive-aggressive pukes that proliferate and subsequently pollute the Fair City of San Francisco with their noisome presence… It just doesn’t seem right, fair, ‘just’ or humane.
Remember my reference to the buffalo-bone scavengers at the end of ‘Blood Meridian’? We really are seeing what the end of the line looks like – while surrounded by a horde of duplicitous self-deluding dupes trying to sell that as a *feature* not a *bug*…
Thanks for letting us know what the other side of the looking-glass looks like, and being honest about it.
Cheers!
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From the perspective of an Uber/Lyft driver, the view of San Francisco is definitely grim. But now that I’m driving a taxi, I feel *somewhat* more hopeful about the future of the city.
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That’s good to hear.
All of us are facing an economy in an advanced state of economic cannabalism at this juncture. A number of business models (social media and search, et al.) feed on user-data for revenue – ostensibly for ‘marketing purposes’ – while developing new ways to eliminate not only the privacy of their users (and thus every last shred of ‘novelty’) but their ability to pay and therefore participate as consumers in the marketing process…
Clearly we can see that the ‘snake’ is eating it’s tail here, but that completely zooms over the head of the average ride-share fanatic (either exploiter or expoited). All they see is “more money *now* is… hmmm, let me see… more money?” without factoring in the element of Time, Depreciation, Opportunity Cost let alone any concept of the Net Present Value of an independent contract gig at all.
It just doesn’t occur to these folks that Life doesn’t come equipped with a ‘reset’ feature.
Just don’t let them “Drink Your Milkshake” willingly;
http://gifsoup.com/view/1750142/i-drink-your-milkshake.html
http://www.celebquote.com/2314
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I just made $30 with 6 short rides in an hour… not the first time, won’t be the last either. All that with about 18 miles of driving. If you can’t do math, everything is bad.
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That’s great. I’m glad things are working out for you and you’re happy with how Uber is continually lowering the rates. They obviously had you in mind when they came up with their exploitative business model. And while your math skills may be better than mine, you should really brush up on your reading skills.
To wit: “When you factor in gas, the time and effort spent driving to the passenger’s location, waiting for them to saunter outside, get into the car, give you directions and then drive them to their destination, that minimum fare ends up costing the driver more than the passenger.”
Not every ride goes perfectly. That’s my point. If the rates were higher, the hassles wouldn’t be as severe. But when you’re working on a razor thin margin, any hiccup along the way costs the driver money. Not you, obviously, cause you’re raking in the big bucks, right?
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$30.00 for 18 miles?
$30.00
-20% Ubers cut (-$6)
= $23.00
18M x .56¢ depreciation -$10.08
$23.00
-$10.08
= $12.92
You stated you completed “a few short rides” so assumed 3 rides would mean $3 in safe ride fees.
Let’s recap…
$30.00
-$6 (Uber fee)
-$10.08 (Depreciation)
-$3.00 (safe ride fees)
= $9.92
So congratulations, you made less then minimum wage!
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Lol….6 rides in an hour? omg, you must work for Uber….do the math yourself…..One hour has 60 minutes, so in ten minutes you can complete one ride. This means you can get to ALL passenger and deliver them to their destination in less than 10 minutes and assuming ALL passengers were already waiting on the curb for your arrival. I guess this might be true if and only if you were the only one who was driving on the street with NO traffic lights. Damn, you did not rest all all during that hour. In addition, you would only net 0.8 x (30 – 6) = $19.2 before any expenses. Next time, before you try to mislead the people, use your ass to think.
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