A study conducted by the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research analysed revenue and costs for over 1100 Lyft and Uber drivers, with the conclusion that most earn below minimum wage for their state and about 30% actually lose money when all the costs of owning and operating their vehicles are taken into account.
"A Median driver generates $0.59 per mile of driving, and incurs costs of $0.30 per mile", "On an hourly basis, the median profit was $3.37 per hour".
Because actual vehicle operating costs are significantly lower than the IRS allowance of $0.54/mile, many drivers report incomes that are substantially lower that their actual incomes, leading to a large pool of untaxed income (although it is small for each driver).
(Score: 2, Interesting) by sonamchauhan on Sunday March 04 2018, @02:54AM
Perhaps because VC money is truly subsidising operations (i.e., they are upping payments to drivers to stop them quitting).
https://qz.com/967474/the-on-demand-economy-is-a-bubble-and-its-about-to-burst/ [qz.com]
Uber runs out of money in a year. It's signed a deal to buy 24,000 Volvo SUVs for $1 billion, to be delivered in 2019. The plan is humans drive them first, then they add sensors and software to convert them to driverless models and fire the drivers. No drivers = no payments to drivers = profit!!!
They're betting the tech will be ready by then.
BTW, they also have this bright long-term vision to expropriate taxpayer-built roads in cities:
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/02/uber-and-lyft-have-a-hot-new-idea-for-screwing-over-city-dwellers/ [gizmodo.com.au]
"WE SUPPORT THAT AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES (AVS) IN DENSE URBAN AREAS SHOULD BE OPERATED ONLY IN SHARED FLEETS."