On April 10, 2019, a ride-share driver picks up customers at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images/Scott Olson People are getting back on their feet after a huge drop in travel over the last year. Despite offering cash incentives, ride-hailing behemoths Uber and Lyft are still having trouble getting drivers back up to speed, resulting in lengthier wait times for consumers and skyrocketing pricing. Uber and Lyft have invested millions in these efforts, but some former drivers aren’t even considering them or trying to take advantage of surge pricing. There are still a significant number of people who refuse to give up. “Drivers are on a low-key strike,” Rideshare Drivers United volunteer organizer Nicole Moore told CNBC. In an email, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, “Right now it’s a little fiasco for Uber and Lyft in terms of driver shortages and spike pricing around the US.” “The number of drivers is 40% below capacity.” For a number of reasons, former ride-sharing drivers are avoiding the road. Many are afraid of the pandemic continuing, which is why they stopped driving in the first place. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than half of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against Covid-19. “This isn’t over yet; people can still get sick,” Louis Wu, a former rideshare driver from Texas, told CNBC. According to Uber, 80% of drivers planned to return once they were inoculated. As part of its drive to get people back on the road, the firm has also invested extensively in getting people vaccinated, providing free transportation to vaccine locations through early July. Others have moved to food or grocery delivery in order to stay in the gig economy but avoid transmission. This has also allowed them to put less wear and tear on their vehicles, which is especially important as petrol and car part prices rise. “There’s a lot less consumer connection with food delivery vs hauling a passenger in your backseat in these times of Covid,” Harry Campbell, who runs The Rideshare Guy blog, wrote in an email. “In comparison to a full-time ride-hail driver who can easily go 1,000 miles per week or more, you put fewer miles on your car as a delivery driver because consumers order from neighboring eateries. Many ride-hailing drivers are simply tired of dealing with people.” Some drivers have also continued to get unemployment benefits, which will run out later this year. Former drivers may be persuaded to resume providing services once extended benefits expire in the fall. “If drivers were holding out because of unemployment, September will be the major telltale indicator,” said Chris Gerace, a driver and contributor to Campbell’s site. The supply and demand issues, according to Uber and Lyft, should be resolved in the third quarter, which began on July 1. If demand continues to outstrip supply, rideshare businesses may be forced to make more fundamental modifications to accommodate drivers. According to The Wall Street Journal, Uber is considering sponsoring education and career-building initiatives. According to the research released on Friday, Lyft is also looking into ways to minimize driver expenses. However, many drivers have experienced what it’s like to work outside of the gig economy. Moore said she knows former truck drivers who have taken office jobs or converted to driving semi trucks and have no plans to return. Some gig workers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with how ridesharing companies compensate them, particularly as surge pricing persists. Despite the hefty prices passengers pay, the Washington Post revealed last month that drivers aren’t collecting their cut. And drivers have continued to criticize the firms, claiming that it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a livelihood on the apps, particularly when compared to the companies’ early days. “I was guaranteed 80% of the fare when I first started driving,” Moore claimed. “If we were in that situation right now, the equation on the road would be considerably different. Drivers are seeing as much as 20%, 30%, or 40% of the fee a day “a number of occasions.” It’s a question of whether ridesharing firms will listen and be willing to make major adjustments, according to Gerace. The scarcity also coincides with Uber and Lyft’s commitments to achieve adjusted EBITDA profitability by the end of the year, and strain on the balance sheet might make that target even more difficult. “You could have fair pay for drivers, good competitive rates, and you could become profitable and have that win-win-win if these organizations had a paradigm-shifting core concept,” Gerace said. “But you have to take the initiative and be open to trying new things.” Uber declined to comment, citing a blog post from April on the $250 million stimulus. A Lyft spokeswoman cited statements made by the firm’s president, John Zimmer, in late May, in which he stated that the business was “very optimistic” in supply recovery./n
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