Anybody having trouble getting Uber/Lyft rides?

[JimMIA]

There is a lot of talk on driver social media about demand dropping way off as a result of covid-19.

Uber has also suspended UberPool rides. For those who aren't familiar with these, UberPool and Lyft Shared are shared rides where the company collects multiple fares while only paying the driver for one ride. These shared rides account for a lot of rider demand and a LOT of the profit for the companies.

There are also some drivers, including some full-timers, who have stopped driving. It's hard to guess how many are not driving, but when I look at my rider app, I see available cars much more spread out than I usually see. On the driver app, I also see lower than normal numbers in the airport queues.

I think this is going to be the end of the line for many drivers. I know it is for me. I haven't been driving much since the last pay cut, and this is the perfect time for me to close this out.

Have you had any difficulty, or longer than usual pickup times, where you live?

 

[bumbershoot]

I noticed stupid-high prices to go across my town the other day. And I checked at two very different times of day. That in itself stopped me. I *would have* used lyft, but it was much more expensive than normal, so I changed my plans.

 

[holden]

I can’t imagine getting into a stranger’s car right now...Uber, can, limo, anything.

 

[JimMIA]

I can’t imagine getting into a stranger’s car right now...Uber, can, limo, anything.

I agree. It's not only a stranger's car, it's a stranger's car that's had 20-30 other strangers in it just today!

And I can't imagine letting a stranger ride in my car right now! I was ready to quit anyway, but there's no way I would drive now. I guess that cuts both ways.

Unfortunately, the full-time drivers have no other source of income and they literally have no choice but to drive -- especially if they are renting/leasing a new car through Uber or Lyft. Those guys are really desperate...and we're just getting started with this crisis.

 

[JimMIA]

I noticed stupid-high prices to go across my town the other day. And I checked at two very different times of day. That in itself stopped me. I *would have* used lyft, but it was much more expensive than normal, so I changed my plans.

Yeah, but get used to it. Fares have been artificially low from the start, and the companies have been spectacularly unprofitable. Now they are under intense pressure to turn a profit...and they are nowhere close.

So they are raising rider fares and cutting driver pay. That's actually the only they can get to profitability quickly. So your fare today is double what it used to be, and the driver is getting paid half what they used to get for the same ride. It's still cheaper than a taxi, but nothing like it was a year ago.

 

[gatour]

Sorry to hear about your situation and understand why you are getting out of the business.

While I am not a big Uber user, I have used it as it is more reliable (in general) than taxi services. I have used in the past. At least I could get a somewhat realistic expectation when a Uber driver would show, while a taxi could be an hour or more off even when pre-booked.

I like how you have been candid about Uber/Lyft. Especially offering help to people utilizing it in Orlando even though you are in Miami.

Thanks

 

[JimMIA]

Sorry to hear about your situation and understand why you are getting out of the business.

While I am not a big Uber user, I have used it as it is more reliable (in general) than taxi services. I have used in the past. At least I could get a somewhat realistic expectation when a Uber driver would show, while a taxi could be an hour or more off even when pre-booked.

I like how you have been candid about Uber/Lyft. Especially offering help to people utilizing it in Orlando even though you are in Miami.

Thanks

Thanks, and yes I will continue to use Uber as a rider once the covid-19 crisis has passed. It's not only the quick pickups, reliability, and price. I also know, both from riding in both and associating with drivers, that Uber drivers are much more likely to have clean cars.

I like Uber; it just makes no sense to drive for them any longer.

And I'll continue to try to help here on the DIS whenever I can. I've been a DIS member WAY longer than I've been associated with Uber and Lyft!

 

[DVC-Don]

*Opps, wrong thread

 

[rlk]

For the past two weeks, and for the foreseeable future, my husband has relocated to NJ. His company is paying fore him to take an Uber both ways. He said the average costs for both ways has remain consistent- approx. $160 in the morning leaving Manhattan and $65 coming back in, if he leaves by 3-3:30p.

 

[loves to dive]

My son uses Uber at least twice a week. He used it night before last with no problems. We live in a college town so it was pretty popular around here, there are still bars open, just limited to 10 people in the bar at a time.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yeah, but get used to it.

I mean...no. I won’t just get used to it. I simply won’t use them. My urge to go have a few drinks (a few days ago when the bar was open still) just isn’t that strong.

Almost $2 per mile plus tip isn’t worth it. I mean, can go all the way to the airport for under 1.50 per mile.

I’m sorry you worked for a company whose pay structure didn’t work for you. I hope you make sure your future company’s pay works better!


I just checked the fare again in case it was a fluke. Nope, same. And there are 5 vehicles within half a mile of me. Wild.

 

[JimMIA]

I mean...no. I won’t just get used to it. I simply won’t use them. My urge to go have a few drinks (a few days ago when the bar was open still) just isn’t that strong.

Almost $2 per mile plus tip isn’t worth it. I mean, can go all the way to the airport for under 1.50 per mile.

I’m sorry you worked for a company whose pay structure didn’t work for you. I hope you make sure your future company’s pay works better!


I just checked the fare again in case it was a fluke. Nope, same. And there are 5 vehicles within half a mile of me. Wild.

Seattle fares are somewhat higher than Miami fares, as is driver pay.

Uber/Lyft have never been a big deal for me. I'm retired and they were just something to do part-time. I tried it and had some fun, but it was always one of those "as long as I enjoy it" things for me -- very different from the guys who are trying to support their family by driving.

When I started in 2016, the pay was okay. But they've had several pay cuts of various descriptions, so now our base pay is about half what it used to be, and the real pay (including promotions, surge, etc) is probably 1/3 what it used to be. With Uber, if you are paying $20 in surge, the driver is probably only getting <$5 -- and with Lyft, they're probably getting $0.00.

As a result, I drove only one weekend between Jun-Nov 2019. I drove a couple of weekends in November and December, and until about 7PM on New Years Eve. Haven't driven since, and I don't think I've had a Lyft ride since probably this time last year. I have already closed my Lyft account and deleted the app -- they're just WAY more trouble than they are worth here in Miami.

 

[joelkfla]

Seattle fares are somewhat higher than Miami fares, as is driver pay.

Uber/Lyft have never been a big deal for me. I'm retired and they were just something to do part-time. I tried it and had some fun, but it was always one of those "as long as I enjoy it" things for me -- very different from the guys who are trying to support their family by driving.

When I started in 2016, the pay was okay. But they've had several pay cuts of various descriptions, so now our base pay is about half what it used to be, and the real pay (including promotions, surge, etc) is probably 1/3 what it used to be. With Uber, if you are paying $20 in surge, the driver is probably only getting <$5 -- and with Lyft, they're probably getting $0.00.

As a result, I drove only one weekend between Jun-Nov 2019. I drove a couple of weekends in November and December, and until about 7PM on New Years Eve. Haven't driven since, and I don't think I've had a Lyft ride since probably this time last year. I have already closed my Lyft account and deleted the app -- they're just WAY more trouble than they are worth here in Miami.

It stopped being fun for me a lot sooner. Mostly when I found myself spending way more time waiting for a ping than driving, and stressing out over meeting the ever-increasing requirements to get ever-shrinking bonuses. I never showed a profit on my tax return, but it got to where it was just too expensive to continue on an occasional basis.

The nail in the coffin was when the companies publicly announced programs to give full-time drivers advantages over part-time drivers in getting rides. I don't begrudge the full-timers, as they are trying to support themselves, but it counted me out.

 

[JimMIA]

It stopped being fun for me a lot sooner. Mostly when I found myself spending way more time waiting for a ping than driving, and stressing out over meeting the ever-increasing requirements to get ever-shrinking bonuses. I never showed a profit on my tax return, but it got to where it was just too expensive to continue on an occasional basis.

The nail in the coffin was when the companies publicly announced programs to give full-time drivers advantages over part-time drivers in getting rides. I don't begrudge the full-timers, as they are trying to support themselves, but it counted me out.

I've never had problems staying busy, and frankly, I don't think the preferences for full-time drivers actually work. If you're talking about Uber Pro, I think it's worthless -- and I don't think I've ever seen any Lyft program that benefited anyone except Lyft. But that said, I always earned taxable income by driving -- never had a year where I had a net deduction.

My problem was two-fold.

First was pay. They cut our pay from 76 cents per mile to 68. Then they "increased" our per-minute pay, but dropped the mileage to 62 cents. In response to the pay cuts, I started getting firm about gross per-hour income. I would go out for two hours (because nothing happens right away), and if I hadn't reached a certain number in two hours, I would turn the apps off and quit for the day. I also restricted my driving times to Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday, and Sunday because other time periods were just not worthwhile for me.

The other issue was promotions.

This was actually only a problem with Uber because Lyft never had any legit promotions, lol. Most of Lyft's "promotions" were nothing but guarantees of a minimum amount if you did a certain number of rides, but the normal fares would meet that guarantee anyway, so they were nothing. In addition, Lyft has a number of app stunts they pull to try to make up for their deficiencies, and those led me to often just turn Lyft off. And, to top it all off, Lyft was doing some sketchy things with their driver signups. So I eventually quit Lyft and uninstalled the app.

With Uber, we used to enjoy a number of legit promotions that would add significantly to your revenue. Those have all been eliminated now -- no more surge, boost or other good promos. Riders are paying surge, but little if anything gets passed through to the driver. We get quests now, but my last one was $10 extra if I did 30 rides in 4 days...33 cents per ride. No thank you.

 

[JimMIA]

Quick update --

At least here in Miami, we have seen a drastic reduction both in riders and drivers. Virtually all of the drivers I talk to on social media have either quit entirely or have switched to various delivery services.

There are still some drivers working -- I see them on my rare excursions out of the house. I'm sure they are the desperate ones who are renting/leasing from Uber/Lyft. But yesterday on a 10-mile round trip to Publix and Costco, for example, I only saw one Uber. In normal times, I would have seen a dozen or more. And at Miami International Airport, there are very few drivers waiting in queue, only 1-5 in some categories that normally would have 50-60.

When I put my Uber rider app on, I also see a very different picture than I used to see. Formerly, I would see the closest 8 drivers all within 4-5 blocks of my house. Now, I see only 4-5 drivers and the closest is at least 10 minutes away.

 

[Wendy1985]

Do you think lyft will get back yo normal as far as services go they are a true life saver for me

 

[JimMIA]

Do you think lyft will get back yo normal as far as services go they are a true life saver for me

I think so, but it's too early to tell. If not Lyft, I certainly expect Uber to survive and come back.

It's also going to be somewhat market-specific. Where you live, there are far fewer drivers to begin with, so anyone quitting will have more effect on your availability than one driver would have in a big city like Miami.

For the short term, many drivers have quit driving because of fear of getting sick. Some have switched to various delivery apps and others are just not working at all. Some -- myself included -- have quit entirely, not necessarily because of the pandemic.

There will also most likely be a lag in many drivers returning once the emergency has passed. Depending on whether and how much unemployment or other stimulus money they get, many drivers will be better off financially not working -- they will make more money from government assistance than they would make driving. So a lot of them will ride that pony as long as possible. There's actually quite a lot of chatter on that subject on driver social media.

 

[Wendy1985]

I think so, but it's too early to tell. If not Lyft, I certainly expect Uber to survive and come back.

It's also going to be somewhat market-specific. Where you live, there are far fewer drivers to begin with, so anyone quitting will have more effect on your availability than one driver would have in a big city like Miami.

For the short term, many drivers have quit driving because of fear of getting sick. Some have switched to various delivery apps and others are just not working at all. Some -- myself included -- have quit entirely, not necessarily because of the pandemic.

There will also most likely be a lag in many drivers returning once the emergency has passed. Depending on whether and how much unemployment or other stimulus money they get, many drivers will be better off financially not working -- they will make more money from government assistance than they would make driving. So a lot of them will ride that pony as long as possible. There's actually quite a lot of chatter on that subject on driver social media.

Thank you, yes I live in a very small town but like everything else it has pros and cons

 

[JimMIA]

You're going to be fine, Wendy. You'll be able to get around -- the rideshare business is not going away.

 

[kylenne]

I get the point about strangers in the car, but before I was finally given the all clear by admin to work from home, I was seriously bracing myself to pay through the nose for Lyft to get to my essential job in Manhattan once my quarantine was up given the current state of the subways here. Rideshare would have been LESS risky quite frankly. I haven't seen if it's harder to get a car lately, sadly I have not had reason to check since I was in self isolation for 2 weeks having been exposed to someone who tested positive. That was up on Wednesday and I started working from home yesterday. Our groceries have been handled by Instacart (I am sheltering with my at risk mother), and at least in NYC I know a lot of rideshare drivers also do shopping gigs.

I really hope it bounces back. Rideshare has been a godsend to underserved populations here, especially those of us who live in the outer boroughs. Taxis in this city were an awful racist, borderline predatory monopoly for decades and that's why I don't have a lot of sympathy for them in their fighting with the rideshare companies. Uber/Lyft/Via don't care what color you are or what neighborhood you live in, and they don't care if you're a tourist or not. And I never had a problem with a driver telling me to get out once I said I was going to [insert outer borough here] or not picking me up at all.