Being an Uber Driver  ⚐

This amazing article by Emily Guendelsberger makes me really think about my use of Uber. Uber already has had a few rough months, but this article really cuts through the fantasy of how much better Uber is for drivers than being a cabbie is.

In the end, it’s just a more convenient, less regulated cab service. And since they’re skirting a lot of the regulations that (in theory) cab services, they’re passing that cost savings on to us (the consumer) and themselves.

Whatever my reservations about Uber as a driver, it really, really is better for riders. I’m actually a staunch defender of Philly cabbies — I’ve never met a bad one, though many vocal people have. But Uber is just … better. The current medallion system sucks. Without getting too into the regulatory weeds, it creates an environment that screws over drivers and has no financial incentive to provide a pleasant experience for passengers. Uber can provide better service at cheaper prices with UberX because, by refusing to work within the medallion system, it has far fewer costs than a regulated taxi company — the cost of medallions, owning and maintaining a fleet of cars and paying for full commercial insurance.

But not the driver.

Driving for UberX isn’t the worst-paying job I’ve ever had. I made less scooping ice cream as a 15-year-old, if you don’t adjust for inflation. If I worked 10 hours a day, six days a week with one week off, I’d net almost $30,000 a year before taxes.

But if I wanted to net that $90,000 a year figure that so many passengers asked about, I would only have to work, let’s see …

27 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The whole article is fascinating. And, in the end, as passengers, we’re screwed if wanting to do the right thing. Cab services have a tendency to be inconvenient, expensive, and often not customer friendly. And not always nice to the cabbies. Uber is customer friendly, convenient, less expensive, and not always nice to the driver. And opens up the driver to a lot of potential liability.

So, it all sucks.

I’d feel 1000x better about it if Uber was passing on some of that margin to the drivers so that drivers really could achieve a meaningful existence … without working 27 hours a day. But in the end, I’ll just end up using whatever is the most convenient because both neither Uber nor the cab companies are really doing right by all three parties.