Any opponauts drive for Uber/Lyft?

"Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief" (flynorcal) 07/18/2017 at 11:48 • Filed to: None

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I’m flying to New Jersey for a wedding (Friday) and will be flying in and out of Philadelphia. I’m planning on skipping a rental car and relying on Uber or Lyft instead. The wedding is in nearby Mount Laurel NJ.

(I would never have considered such a thing with a taxi except flying in and out of New York where the cab drivers are uniformly good at what they do. Oakland? Lol. Philadelphia? Omfg are you insane?)

My neighbor drives for both companies and despite what the news would have you believe she likes the money and loves to have a captive audience to talk at so she’s got no complaints. I’m her mind it’s easy money.

What’s the deal? Are working for these companies that bad really? Is one truly better than the other? As a customer it’s all the same to me. What’s it like as a driver?

iSureWilll > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 07/18/2017 at 12:06

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I just moved out of Mount Laurel and live in nearby Haddonfield area. I don’t drive for either but both in the area seem ok. Let me know if you have any questions about the area.

DipodomysDeserti > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 07/18/2017 at 12:08

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I’ve been driving for both in the mornings and nights for the past month to see if it’s a viable way to make some money once I go back to school. I teach during the school year so it’s an easy way to make cash in between classes. It’s an easy way to make money, but I could get any number of other jobs and make more, and have insurance, and not have to drive people to pick up drugs (has happened more than once in a month). I’ll be going to nursing school and teaching, and it lets me set my own work schedule. If I need more money, I can just work all night.

Lyft is much better to drive for than Uber. They take a much smaller cut and their minimum ride payments are higher. As an example, I drove two people back to back from my neighborhood to the airport last Friday. Same distance, same drive time, but one used Lyft and the other Uber. I earned $14.50 from Lyft and $8.50 from Uber. The problem is that I’ll get almost ten Uber fares for every one Lyft fare.

Neither conpany does really anything to ensure your car (or the driver’s mind) is mechanically sound, so rider beware.

I’m thinking about starting to write about my driving experiences as I’ve had some interesting experiences in just a month.

Master Cylinder > DipodomysDeserti 07/18/2017 at 12:20

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I’ve heard that Uber has some requirements regarding your car, namely a maximum age. Does Lyft have the same? It would be kind of fun to drive people around in an 80s sports car for a bit of extra spending money every now and again.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 07/18/2017 at 12:43

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Warning - long response, probably a lot more than you care to read about in preparing for your trip. This is an industry I’ve been following for a while and have always had conflicting feelings about, so read at your own risk! -

I think it depends on who you ask. If you ask casual drivers who do it as a side gig a few hours here and there – they’ll say its good money and worth it. Ask the ex-limo or cabbie who is now being forced to do the exact same job they had before, just under this platform with lower protections and less pay, i.e. more hours to make the same money – they’ll probably tell you a different story.

I get both sides of the story and at the end of the day the problem arises from the companies wanting it both ways. And when I say “problem” I say so in more of a societal manner than in a legal manner (which may exist to some extent too). IF the platforms were just meant to be a side gig to make a few extra bucks with, then these companies businesses would be much smaller than they are. But in that case – sure it’d be great for those folks, and taxis would be a more common place thing with some level of coexistence. I could even see less of an insurance issue – if you can legitimately show that the primary use for your car is NOT to run a commercial business out of. But no, the companies want more $$$ - so they do everything they can to entice folks to drive more and more hours, and cut in to the true full time cabbie industry. Essentially provide the exact same service while wholly ingoring all the regulations that industry has to deal with. OK sure, fuck the livery thug boss mafia – but at the end of the day this is also screwing over many poor people who were trying to make a living. Or forcing them on to this platform now where they have to incur a lot more of the costs and the risks, for less money on a full time basis, along with ever-changing rules and cuts being taken by the platforms in their quest to “disrupt!”.

Yes, sure some taxi regulations are ridiculous. I think we need to work towards getting all these platforms on some level of middle ground that applies to ALL ride-providing businesses. That is not what Uber and Lyft want – they want their own game that gives them an advantage over the cabs. i.e. they too are a mafia cab boss, just with a prettier face.

Looking at the driver side of things – sure I’m happy for folks being able to make ends meet with some additional cashflow. But something also rubs me the wrong way about an industry screwing over the livelihood of generally poorer folk to put some money in the hands of middle-class part-timers doing it at least to some extent for shits and giggles, or folks that have other alternatives they could work towards. Like hey, I’d be pissed too if an app allowed any rando to earn more money by doing my job with none of the certifications I have to deal with.

And yes, I’m fully aware that this is at least to some extent an unpopular opinion and I’ve had these conversations a million times over with folks claiming “capitalism!”, to “fuck the cabbies!”, or “quit if you don’t like it!”, or “I love my cheap rides!”. Yeah, sure – I truly get all those reasonings. At the end of the day I support all these platforms IMPROVING (which requires pressure from us, the users too) and having more of an even playing field for all. And neither Uber, Lyft, the cabbies, nor many of the rideshare supporters seem to be doing much to get us there.

p.s. - you appear to be in the bay area? amazing how much NOT having to follow the start up scene and its societal impacts has changed my life after moving out of SF and CA altogether! Guess I’m weird like that.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 07/18/2017 at 13:37

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I’ve taken an Uber home from Newark airport. It was about a 1 hour drive down to Lakewood and cost me about $72. Not terrible considering the distance and how easy it was. Pickup was literally like 3 minutes! But anyways, in general Uber is more popular than I thought it would be. There is nearly no Lyft around but it shouldnt be too hard to get one way from Philly airport.

Overall though, a rental car is far easier and driving in that area of South Jersey is REALLY easy. And its not like they are expensive unless its a holiday weekend.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > DipodomysDeserti 07/18/2017 at 13:39

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Definitely interested to hear stories. Never really heard any stories from the driver’s perspective. Although I imagine there have been AMAs on reddit that I missed.

Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > DipodomysDeserti 07/18/2017 at 13:41

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I have used Uber a number of times but Lyft only once. I’ll have both apps installed and try to favor Lyft if I can if it gets more money into the hands of the person doing the work. Thanks for the good info.

As far as the car or driver being in good condition, compared to my experience with taxis and their drivers... sheesh. I took a cab a few months ago from the train to home figuring things must have improved a bit with all of the competition going on and hell no. Car had a frozen shock/strut and four brakes in need to service, driver had no idea how to find Alameda (which is ~1/2 mile from the station), and then couldn’t break a $20 to give me change and naturally the credit card machine was broken — so he didn’t get paid at all.

Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 07/18/2017 at 13:50

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I’m fully on the side of “fuck the cabbies” but that’s what happens when you call a cab every day for 3-4 years and every day the cab driver that is dispatched calls you to ask where you’re going before they decide if they are suddenly at the end of their shift if you’re only heading to the subway and not the airport. That was a daily and laughable routine, answering the phone and lying so that I would be picked up rather than blown off. Before that I lived in the Sunset where the only cabs that would actually arrive when called were the straight up illegal Asian cabs. I’ll also on the side of “fuck Uber” too but for philosophical reasons as they seem to be a shitty company from what turns up in the news.

I’ll throw as much of my business at Lyft and hope for the best I suppose. There doesn’t seem to be any clearly correct answer but that seems the best of the options. Thanks for the lengthy response.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 07/18/2017 at 14:12

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Keeping up with the Silicon Valley/SF “bubble” is tiresome. 95% of it is BS that claims to change society but gets lost in VC politics and power struggles. The rest are mobile games. Frickin’ video games. I play games but they are not a new idea.

I live here and I mostly tune it out except for things that really pique my interest. I prefer to keep my life simple, work hard/smart and play hard/dumb. I already have a kid for a time sink.

Anecdotally, a lot of people here seem to drive for Uber/Lyft because they have been marginalised from excessive job competition. They don’t really have a choice, and some of them are already homeless and living in their cars as various news articles have documented.

Agreed, the only societal issue Uber/Lyft bring is the need to improve taxi service and accountability. Punish bad drivers and incentivise good ones.

DipodomysDeserti > Master Cylinder 07/18/2017 at 14:33

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Yeah, there is an age limit for Uber. Not sure about Lyft. I have a lowered ‘66 GMC rat rod which would be fun to pick people up in : )

DipodomysDeserti > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 07/18/2017 at 14:38

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Jesus, what a nightmare ride. Yeah, even though cabs are supposed to be regulated, it is not like anyone is checking on them. I drive a later model BMW and everyone seems pretty pleased with it over a clapped out crown vic. I also qualify for uber select which does pay me about equal to or a little bit more than lyft. Im sure they charge the rider a bunch for it, but you’re at least guarenteed a nicer car.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 07/18/2017 at 14:39

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Completely agree. Those horrible cab experiences - you can never have too few of them in a lifetime. I’ve been sad to see similar shit happening with rideshares too though. Especially at airports I’ve had multiple dropped requests after they call me asking where I’m going (assuming app doesn’t tell them until the ride starts, to avoid this very issue). Agreed with fuck Uber for philosophical reasons as well. Travis and co can go rot in hell. Thankfully I don’t need such services much anymore, but the few times I really do I try to use Lyft or a cab. People in general are much nicer up here in Portland, so thankfully that extends to the cabbies as well.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 07/18/2017 at 14:44

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Exactly - it’s really tough assessing the human side of things when there’s damage on both sides. I hate Uber but have nothing against the drivers - and if anything want MORE protections and pay for them. But then on the other side there are cab drivers with their hands tied getting slaughtered. With this trend of things everything getting “disrupted” and turned in to a part of the “sharing” economy, we may all see our livelihoods threatened and need to attack someone else’s to keep our heads above water. Quite the vicious cycle this could turn out to be.

I miss the bay terribly, but the combination of SV start up bullshit and the super complicated regional issues that are seemingly beyond solving just given the $$$ involved made leaving the best decision I’ve made for my sanity.

Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > DipodomysDeserti 07/18/2017 at 15:21

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I pick people up for Casual Carpool in my M5 all the time. 95% of the population has no idea that it’s anything other than a white car and possibly German and much noisier than a nice car — like a Prius. I’ve had maybe 2-3 people actually be stoked. There’s not a lot of overlap between car nuts and people who are looking to save a few bucks and skip the bus.

The carpool thing has been a bit disrupted by Uber/Lyft thing too. I’ve had people hop in the back rather than up front and hop out without a word of thanks and I think they lost the plot a bit as I’m giving them a free ride so basic pleasantries are part of the fabric that holds it together. I think people spend enough time hopping in and out of stranger’s cars that the line between courtesy and commercial gets a bit blurry in some folk’s minds. It doesn’t bother me really, but I find it odd as it’s exactly the opposite of how I’m wired.

DipodomysDeserti > Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief 07/18/2017 at 16:04

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If I drive on Friday or Saturday nights for the bar/club crowd almost no one gives a shit about my car. However, when I work commuting hours at least half of my fares comment on it being nice (it’s just an X1 so it isn’t anything cool but it is Valencia Orange so it is at least visually stimulating). I’ll drive in some crappy neighborhoods sometimes where the only luxury cars around are clapped out mercs and bimmers.

So far everyone has been real courteous (even the couple strung out on heroin i picked up). I’m in Phoenix where everyone is pretty laid back and nice to each other. Almost no one tips, but they at least all say thanks!

Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > DipodomysDeserti 07/18/2017 at 16:42

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I’d be stoked to get picked up in an orange X1! Rad ride.