Gridwise blog

I like dogs... I really do.I may not be coming home with an 8-week old Great Dane anytime soon, but I understand the appeal.What I don't like, however, is dog fur. Specifically, dog fur in my car, on my cloth seats.Nope. Nope. Nope.So when I started driving for Uber a few years back, one of the first things that I looked up was the rules for passengers with furry friends. It turns out, that drivers actually have a fair say in this... Except when it comes to service animals.

Service Animal Policies

When it comes to service animals, rideshare companies don't make the rules, the government does.Currently, both rideshare companies and taxi companies must follow ADA laws as transportation providers. After a 2014 lawsuit from the National Federation of the Blind, Uber and other rideshare companies implemented a strict Service Animal Policy. See them below:

Lyft Service Animal Policy

When it comes to transporting riders with service animals, drivers on the Lyft platform should remember one thing: Always Say Yes. That's because drivers must comply with applicable laws and Lyft’s Service Animal Policy. The law and Lyft's Service Animal Policy state that drivers may not deny service or otherwise discriminate against passengers with service animals. This means that drivers must transport a rider with a service animal regardless of whether a driver is allergic or afraid of these animals, or has a religious or cultural objection to them.A service animal is an animal, usually a dog, that is trained to perform tasks for an individual with a disability, like blindness or deafness. Service animals are not required to wear a tag or vest or be registered. Riders with service animals do not need to display any kind of proof that their animal is a service animal. In other words, if a rider with a dog says it is a service animal, the driver should transport the rider.

Uber Service Animal Policy

State and federal law prohibit driver-partners using the Uber Driver App from denying service to riders with service animals because of the service animals, and from otherwise discriminating against riders with service animals. As explained in Uber’s Non-Discrimination Policy, driver-partners who engage in discriminatory conduct in violation of this legal obligation will lose their ability to use the Driver App.Allowing service animals is a fair policy and a legal requirement so I have no problem with it. Service animals are well trained and generally docile dogs. However, there is the question of if the animal really is a service animal. The passenger could, after all, be lying to get there dog a ride. So it would make sense to ask for some sort of proof or documentation right?Wrong.According to the American with Disabilities Act, a business or service provider is not allowed to ask for or require documentation stating that a service dog is, in fact, a service dog.You can, however, ask two very specific questions unless the need for a service animal is obvious.

1. Is this animal required because of a disability?
2. What work or task has this animal been trained to perform?

The ADA states that these questions will determine if an animal is a service animal and if a passenger answers satisfactorily, you MUST accept that ride.But... what is considered work or tasks under the ADA’s definition of a service animal? See a list of examples below:

• Assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision
• Alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds
• Pulling a wheelchair
• Alerting individuals to the presence of certain allergens
• Retrieving items like as medicine, a phone, or other emergency tools
• Providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability

And what is NOT considered as a work task?

• Emotional support
• Comfort
• Companionship
• Crime deterrence or potentially violent protection

Non-service Animal Pet Policy

So yes, drivers must ensure that service animals are accommodated for legal reasons, however, the pet policy for non-service animals gives drivers more freedom to choose.

Lyft/Uber Non-Service Animal Pet Policy

Although drivers aren't allowed to bring their own own furry friends along for the ride when driving (after all, some passengers have allergies or are otherwise uncomfortable with unfamiliar animals), some passengers will ask to bring their pets along with them when requesting a ride. Unless the passenger has a service animal, it's entirely up to the driver whether or not to allow the passenger’s pet in the vehicle.Drivers certainly don't have to allow passengers to bring pets, however, if you take certain steps it shouldn't be a problem to allow most dogs in your car AND avoid a hairy mess by communicating a few rules to your passenger.

Ask passengers to bring a pet carrier

Many owners of small dogs or cats will naturally bring a pet carrier when traveling, so if you have a passenger that calls and tells you they are bringing an animal, request that they bring a cage and have the animal stay in the cage for the entire ride.

Ask passengers to bring a towel

For larger dogs and animals that don't have cages, I recommend either having your passenger bring a towel or blanket for the dog to sit on, or keeping one in your car. This will help keep the dog's fur and claws off your seats.

Be mindful of the size of your car

Most passengers with larger dogs will naturally order an Uber XL and call you before attempting to get in the car with a 100-lb German Shepard. However, if you do run into someone that attempts to bring a large dog in an UberX, make sure that you can still safely and comfortably drive. If not, have the passenger request a larger vehicle.

Warn passengers about a potential cleaning fee

Unfortunately, even when we take precautions pets do occasionally make messes. If someone brings an uncaged pet in your vehicle, give them a heads up that sometimes cleaning fees occur. They'll appreciate your transparency.

Sometimes, rideshare drivers just need to vent and someone to relate to.

After dealing with “interesting” passengers all day, it can be therapeutic to connect with someone going through the same experiences as you. Fortunately, rideshare drivers are a tech savvy bunch and dozens upon dozens of drivers have flocked to YouTube to create compelling content around their rideshare experiences.

So in today's blog post we're going to mix things up. Instead of talking about strategy and how much rideshare drivers make, we're going to give a shout out to the top rideshare drivers on YouTube that are entertaining us every day.

This list is in no particular order and is not all inclusive, however, these are some of the most unique and entertaining driver channels we've had the pleasure of watching.

1. Ryan Is Driving

Arguably the most popular rideshare Youtube personality is our guy Ryan. He's been making video's for just over a year, and his most popular video "Woman Tries to Get a Free Ride" has over 10M views.

Not a bad audience for a rideshare driver.

Ryan's content is usually more conversational than this video. His content is great because of the real conversations that he has with his passengers. This channel's not about strategy or education, you're just here to witness a couple people in a car having a conversation, and somehow it just works.

He's also active on Twitter, so check him out and be sure to follow!

2. Marc Freccero

One of the original rideshare YouTubers and one of the most well known rideshare YouTubers is Marc Freccero. He does a ton of the more educational content on YouTube and his hit video "10 Things I Wish I Knew BEFORE Driving for Uber & Lyft" has over 850k views, so there is a good chance you've watched his content before.

The interesting thing about Marc however is that he doesn't just talk about the rideshare business, he talks about his entire life and really shows how drivers are a group of people that are generally using rideshare as a step to something more. That could be entrepreneurship, acting, being a DJ, or just being their for your family.

A lot of great content on his channel.

3. Drive Girl Drive

In my opinion, the most under-viewed rideshare Youtuber is Cecily and her Drive Girl Drive channel.

She brings a women's perspective with great videos like "My Scariest Moment as a Woman Uber Driver", which is content that we need, however, her most brilliant content comes when she is speaking directly to her viewers and giving them real advice.

4. Terry Tips

I'll be honest, as of 2 days ago I had never heard of Terry Tips and certainly had never watched one of his videos...

But after this video, he's made a instant fan.

Don't ask questions, just watch his rideshare commercial.

5. Ollie B

Ollie B is pure entertainment. He's really more of a rapper who sometimes dresses up like a nerd or grandpa, turns on the Uber app, and goes out and performs for a few passengers. The thing is he is actually a pretty good rapper and the passenger reactions are priceless.

He doesn't put out a ton of videos, but what he does is gold.

Check out his grandpa rap below.

6. Uber DC

Uber DC is a YouTuber out of, well, D.C., who is famous for his "Tip Jar Tuesday" videos where he counts his tips and talks about his week as a driver.

It is surprisingly awesome because while he is one of the nicest guys we've ever met (yes we've met!), he keeps it real and tells drivers exactly how it is.

He does a few really cool trivia videos where he plays trivia with his passengers, however, this is truly a rideshare YouTube channel for rideshare drivers.

7. munchkym

One of the most informational drivers out there making content is munchkym, AKA Kym who is also very active on Twitter.

Kym is a smart driver. She is experienced and clearly does tons of research and is thoughtful about what she says in her videos. Her ability to be real, while speaking intelligently on subjects makes for some interesting Q&A videos like the one below.

8. Baltimore Rides

One of my all-time favorite YouTubers right now is Mike who makes the Baltimore Rides channel. He started out as a fresh driver and was offering interesting tips and takes on becoming a rideshare driver. However, the video series has evolved into really a window into his life. He talks candidly about his home life, his career, and his interactions with passengers.

Not the most popular channel, but great content that goes deeper than just rideshare.

9. The Passive Driver

Will from The Passive Driver has been a YouTuber for about 10 months now and has already released some great informational videos and is tackling a few interesting questions that not a ton of people in the rideshare business have thought to ask and answer. Will is definitely a thinker and likes to experiment with different tactics and strategies, so if you are looking to drive more strategically, he's your guy.

10. Shaq

Because Shaq (and Lyft's own YouTube channel) is the awesome.

Is there anyone on this list that we missed? Did we miss you? Share with us who your favorite rideshare YouTubers are in the comments below so we can enjoy the great content!

Over the last few months, we've interviewed countless rideshare drivers in an effort to learn from their experiences as a driver, and spread their advice among the rideshare community.

Well, we wanted to go beyond sharing general advice from drivers and start sharing more data-driven insights derived from our anonymized driving data, and we're starting by trying to understand the answer to one of the most important and common questions we hear from drivers.

When is the most profitable time to drive?

Well, conventional wisdom says that driving late nights and during rush hours proves to be the most profitable. But, let's take a look at what the data says, we'll start by looking at Earnings Per Mile by time of day.

Here, we can see that across almost all markets, driving during a rush hour period means that your earnings per mile will be significantly less than other times. We can also see that driving during late mornings in Pittsburgh, D.C., and Chicago is one of the MOST profitable times to drive from a per mile basis, which is generally considered a non-peak time period.

Let's also take a look at the average total earnings per trip:

Here we can see that again, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and D.C. have significantly higher total earnings per trip in the late morning hours than any other time, while rush hour earnings lag behind.

Rush hour is a peak hour... shouldn't it be more profitable?

Many drivers that we speak to talk about the rush hour as one of the best times to drive. It is, after-all, a time where there are significantly more potential passengers. So why would earnings per mile skew lower during these off peak hours?

To better understand this, let's think for a second about how earnings are calculated.

A drivers earnings per trip is made up of 4 variables:

• Base Fare
• Pay per mile
• Pay per minute
• Surge

The calculation for drivers earnings looks like this:

Drivers Earnings = (((Base Fare + Time(X) + Distance(Y)) x Surge Multiplier)) - Commission

Drivers generally get paid more by the mile than by the minute, so it's more profitable to take longer distance rides where you are always moving quickly than shorter distance rides that take about the same amount of time.

So if a driver were to drive a certain distances with virtually no traffic, as opposed to that same distance with traffic and a longer trip from a time perspective, he or she would likely see their earnings per hour increase while earnings per mile would remain about the same. In fact, earnings per mile may actually increase if you are driving slow enough.

So why does the morning and afternoon rush hour, tend to result in lower earnings per mile?

We have found that significantly more drivers come online to drive during these hours along with more passengers. This increase in drivers can often start to outweigh the increase in demand, which means that even if you are available during the rush hour, you may have to drive farther and farther to actually reach your customer.

This means you are putting extra miles on your car between trips, which drives your overall shift mileage up and drives your earnings per mile down because of those "dead miles".

We could also be seeing drivers repositioning themselves to what they believe are more profitable areas. These dead miles can easily add up during your shift and cause your earnings per mile to decrease. These reasons for dead miles also include:

• More cancellations in peak hours as riders try to "shop around"
• More miles spent driving trying to find a passengers drop off or pick up location

We can also see that earnings per trip is lower in almost all cities except for Chicago during the rush hour. What we are likely seeing here is earnings per trip decrease during rush hour because of the types of trips drivers are likely receiving.

Let's take a look at the total size of these cities:

Chicago: 234.00 Square Miles
D.C.: 68.34 Square Miles
Baltimore: 92.28 Square Miles
Pittsburgh: 58.35 Square Miles

People getting rides during a rush hour are usually either going to or from work/school. These trips tend to be shorter than your average trip, unless you are in a large city because work/school is more likely to be farther away.

Chicago is a much larger city than any other city in our study, so it is understandable that these trips "home" are taking much longer than those same trips home in the smaller D.C., Baltimore, and Pittsburgh.

Would it be better to look at earnings per hour?

When looking at total profitability, it is important to measure your profitability against your costs to understand what is your ROI. For many professions, this is simply earnings vs. hours spent as time is the most valuable asset you exchange in this case.

However, for rideshare drivers, while time is an important asset that we are exchanging, we are actually spending a finite amount of money per mile in order to do our jobs. In fact, Ridester released an article last year that states per mile expenses for a rideshare driver who drives a hybrid vehicle will be about $.43 per mile.

Since we want to measure our return based on our most valuable exchanged asset, we will be looking at earnings per mile primarily. However, earnings per hour is a very important metric.

Looking at earnings per trip will help tell us a story about the trips that drivers are receiving and tells us how long vs short trips effect earnings per mile.

How should drivers approach non-peak hours?

Our data suggest that non-peak hours can indeed be the most profitable, which goes against conventional wisdom. But, how?

Well, generally speaking, there are fewer passengers out on the road during non-peak hours, but there are also fewer drivers out on the roads along with less overall traffic. So if drivers can find pockets of demand in those peak hours, then they can find more open road and be more profitable.

Off-peak hour drivers will have to be more strategic, so check your events calendar on Gridwise to understand where rider demand might fluctuate and when rider demand at airports will be highest.

Drivers should also be working to avoid traffic by leveraging a mixture of Gridwise, and your preferred navigation tool (we prefer Waze!).

Use these tools to not only avoid traffic while you navigate, but also gravitate away from traffic as you pick up passengers. If you find yourself continously getting sucked toward a traffic area, you may want to go as far as setting your destination filters to an area with less traffic.

Don't Abandon a Surge

Avoiding too many other drivers is important, however, if you are consistently finding that peak hour surge, make sure you are taking advantage of them. We have found that drivers in Chicago are likely to find surges during off peak hours, so that could also contribute to their increased rush hour earnings. So if you are driving during a rush hour and frequently see surging in a certain area, continue to take advantage of that surge.

If you are not seeing surges, however, consider looking at different areas and different times.

More to come

We love data-driven insights, so we'll be providing you with more blog posts that leverage this sort of information on this very topic and many others. For our Gridwise users, you'll also receive a weekly report that helps you become a higher performing driver by giving you insight into how well you are performing compared to your peers in your city who drive as much as you do.

So check your inbox every Monday for your report, and if you aren't a Gridwise user, download the FREE app so you can start tracking your performance metrics today.

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Possibly the most underutilized tool at a rideshare drivers disposal is the destination filter.

This isn't to say that drivers aren't using the feature at all, many just aren't taking full advantage of all of that a destination filter can help you with.

The Gridwise team has been hanging out at airports in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and D.C. over the last few weeks, so drivers have been schooling me on how they are using destination filters to maximize their earnings.

These D.C. drivers taught me a few things last fall

They gave me the OK to spill the beans on their secrets to success, but let's first dive into what exactly destination filters are and how they work.

How the Destination Filter Works

Destination filters are easy to understand. You simply set a desired location, and Uber or Lyft will do their best to give you a ride headed in that general direction. It doesn't take you exactly where you want to go, but it SHOULD give you a ride headed in that general direction.

There are a few slight differences between Uber and Lyft's offerings.

How Lyft's Destination Mode Works

Lyft calls their destination feature "Destination mode" and according to Lyft, when Destination Mode is activated, you'll only receive requests from passengers that get you closer to your destination. You may not always be closer in terms of miles, but you will be closer to your destination in terms of travel time to your destination.

What Lyft appears to do is map what route you would be using to go to your destination, and gives you rides that take you along that route. This means that sometimes you could get a passenger that moves you slightly away from your destination IF the route that you would otherwise take to that destination calls for that.

This is an important distinction to keep in mind.

Lyft also allows you to use destination filters six times per day.

How Uber's Destination Filters Work

Uber's destination filter feature works similarly to Lyft, except it is less tied to the route that you would take to get to that destination. Meaning, Uber tries its best to get you to that area, unlike Lyft which tries its best to get you on your route. I suspect this is because Uber tends to have more volume and you're more likely to find a rider headed toward your location.

Uber gives you two destination filters per day.

When to use Destination Filters

The original thought behind Uber creating these destination filters seems to be for drivers that are headed home and want to get that last ride. That's an obvious and extremely useful use case, but savvy drivers have found more and more interesting and profitable times to use destination filters.

When Driving Back to Civilization

If you're usually a city driver, I'm sure there have been times when you have been taken out into the suburbs and have gotten the feeling you're in the middle of nowhere. Well, usually you have two options in this situation. You can head back to a more populated area, or hangout in the suburbs driving around to see if you can grab a few rides.

A few drivers we spoke with during our Chicago trip earlier this year had different ideas, however.

Coffe and donuts with Chicago drivers... it's a bit cold

Instead of just heading directly back to the city, they checked Gridwise to see if there were any events going on in the suburbs, and then checked to see what the airport queue was.

If the airport was about to peak for departures, they would set a destination filter to head to the airport.

Being out in the suburbs a few hours before a departure peak means that passengers are likely to be headed toward the airport which means a nice long airport trip. What's even better is when there is also an arrival peak, meaning many passengers are coming into the airport.

There isn't always an airport peak, however, which is why drivers also check to see if any big events are going on in the suburbs.

If nothing is going on in the suburbs, drivers will simply check and see what events are going on in the city and set their destination there.

"One of my favorite moves is to set my destination to the CIBC theatre when I'm out in the suburbs in the evenings because a ton of people are headed to see Hamilton." said Reggie, a Chicago rideshare driver "I get into the city with a passenger easily."

Head Toward Hotels Before Peak

I love this move.

You all know that you can check Gridwise and understand when passengers are arriving at the airport and when they should be departing, which means we can understand when people at hotels are most likely leaving to head to the airport.

What some drivers are doing is setting their destination to busy hotel areas about 2.5 hours before a departure peak which is when passengers are most likely headed to the airport. From there, they're reporting getting rides to the airport when they hangout here the majority of the time.

This is a great way to ensure a long trip to an airport.

This can also be expanded on if there is an arrival peak around the departure peak. That way you can get a long ride to the airport, and back.

Head Toward the Airport Before an Arrival Peak

Speaking of being at the airport for an arrival peak, you can always set your destination for the airport where ever you are if you see an arrival peak that you want to take advantage of.

Moving Away From Traffic

Traffic sucks.

Not only is it boring, but it makes you less profitable as a driver because speed is a major factor in your overall profitability. You see, drivers get paid more by the mile than the minute, so the faster you can pick up rides, drop them off, and get to the next one, the more money you make.

That's why trips per hour is such an important stat for rideshare drivers.

Drivers are using destination filters to make sure they don't get stuck in traffic by setting their destination away from known heavy traffic areas, or areas they get traffic alerts from Gridwise about.

Getting Back Downtown During Rush Hour

Some cities like Chicago, D.C., and Pittsburgh have VERY profitable rush hours for rideshare drivers. Between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm business districts are hotbeds for rides and surges, however, you have to make sure that you are able to stay around the business district in order to reap the benefits.

So many rideshare drivers are heading to these business districts, getting rides away from them, and then using destination filters to get back to these business districts. They are using Lyft's filters as there are significantly more of them to do this.

This is a great tactic that can keep a driver busy for an afternoon while using 3 or 4 destination filters.

How Are You Using Filters?

These are just a few interesting ways we've seen drivers use destination filters, but now I want to hear from you. How are you using destination filters? Let us know in the comments below? Your fellow drivers thank you!

Everyone starts driving for their own unique reasons.

Some people want to escape their mundane corporate jobs and try something new for awhile. Many people are starting their own businesses or following their passion and need extra side income. Some even just want an opportunity to talk to and meet new people.

Everyone has their own "why", and for Sean, a rideshare driver out of Northern Virginia, his "why" was the little one that he has on the way.

You see, Sean is a full-time student, with a part-time job and a baby on the way. Oh, and he occasionally makes the trek down to Virginia Beach to do odd jobs around the house for his elderly parents.

So not only is Sean a busy guy, but he's also a guy that could use some extra cash. Therein lies Sean's "why", his reason for becoming a driver and using his spare time to earn instead of relaxing. However, being a rideshare driver wasn't the first thing that came to mind when he decided to find a way to make some extra cash.

"I told my wife that I really wanted to make some extra cash that we can use for the baby, but I needed something extremely flexible. That's when she brought up Uber, I didn't exactly jump at the idea initially" says Sean. "But when I started to dig in and do some research, that's when I realized how great this could be for us."

That initial research that Sean did which helped convince him that he should be a rideshare driver, also helped him become a highly profitable rideshare driver almost immediately. That's because we know how easy it is to become a rideshare driver, it only takes a car, a clean background and a bit of will power. However, becoming a highly profitable rideshare driver isn't easy, and tends to take a lot of time.

According to a Stanford study from earlier this year, it takes approximately 1500 trips to become a "good" rideshare driver.

Well, Sean didn't have that type of time, so he took matters into his own hands and built a strategy that nearly eliminated his ramp up time and helped him make a great hourly wage after being a driver for just a few days. In this blog post, we're going to look at what Sean did before he became a driver and in his first few days and weeks as a driver that helped him ramp up so quickly.

Have a Strategy From Day 1

One of the biggest and most common mistakes that new rideshare drivers make is starting to drive without a strategy. Too many new drivers expect to be able to turn on their app and get tons of pings wherever they are. Nope. It's not 2012 anymore.

Passenger demand is out there, but it's not just waiting for you, you have to go get it.

Sean did hours of research before he even signed up to become a rideshare driver, so he already knew that he couldn't just drive anywhere. He had to be strategic.

That's why he built a strategy that consists of the following:

1. Driving late nights AWAY from bars
2. Using destination filters to get back to popular areas
3. Driving past airports at peak hours

"I knew that I could drive the bar scene in D.C. and Northern Virginia, but that would mean drunk people and traffic. Two things I want to avoid," said Sean. "That's why I focus on more suburban areas, and a few other hot spots not downtown."

Instead of relying on the bar scene, Sean focuses on areas like the MGM casino in D.C. and the National Harbor which is a restaurant district close to D.C. By understanding where those areas were before he started driving, Sean was able to use these hotspots as starting points and points that he could always gravitate back towards if he needs to find a passenger.

Sean also quickly realized that just because he started in a certain area, that doesn't mean he's going to stay there.

"I would frequently start near National Harbor but could be brought all the way out to a suburb pretty easily," said Sean.

This can make for a tough decision for many drivers. Do you stay in the suburbs and hope for a ride, or do you head back to a downtown area? Well, instead of having to make a blind choice, Sean uses Gridwise to help him understand what events are going on immediately around him or in his surrounding areas so he knows if there will be demand around him soon.

If there is demand coming, he can afford to wait a few minutes for a ping, if it looks like there will be greater demand downtown or even at an airport, he can place a destination filter toward that area and start making his way there.

Sean can also use Gridwise to understand when there will be a peak in airport passengers, so a little trick he learned was to always strategically drive past the airport during a peak time.

"It isn't supposed to work this way, but sometimes if I'm just driving near an airport I'll get a ping from the airport. It's always a lucrative ride, so I try and get lucky every once and awhile."

Track Miles and Performance

Mileage deductions are crucial for rideshare drivers, and if you're just using what Uber and Lyft are giving you, then you're likely missing out on a ton of miles that you should be tracking, as these TNC's don't report on miles that you are driving to get to your main driving area and miles that you are driving from when you start, to when you go home.

Sean understood this, which is why he tracked his mileage from day one. So when tax season comes, he will feel confident that he has maximized his tax deduction.

With Gridwise, drivers can automatically track their mileage and time driven, along with other stats like earnings, and number of trips.

Maximize Your Bonus Opportunities

One of the most important things that every driver needs to do when they start driving is maximize your initial bonus. Every TNC will have a lucrative bonus opportunity that they are advertising for your specific area. Before you enter just any bonus code into your sign up form, check to make sure you're getting the largest bonus possible as they can change monthly.

Also, don't take on too many bonuses at once, especially if they are timed. If you only have one month to do 1,000 rides on Uber for a $1,000 bonus and one month to do 1,000 rides on Via for a $1,000 bonus, it might be difficult for you to hit both of those goals. So stagger when you start up on a TNC to be sure you have time for all of your bonuses.

Remember your Why

Driving rideshare is a customer facing job, which means it isn't always going to be easy. However, if you're smart and stay focused on your why, whether it be a kid on the way, a business you're trying to start, or just a desire to meet new people, you can have a great time being a profitable driver in no time.

The last 18 months have not gone well for Uber, and early in March things took another tumultuous turn when one of their self-driving vehicles struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona. The incident rocked the company and has resulted in Uber halting all of their self-driving cars across all cities including San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Tempe, and Toronto.

This unfortunate event leads us to ask the questions: What is the state of self-driving cars? Are they coming soon? Are they safe? And, how will they affect Rideshare drivers and Taxi drivers?

We took a look at the autonomous car landscape to see if we can answer some of the most pressing questions on the minds of rideshare drivers and passengers including:

• Who is making self-driving cars?
• How far are we away from self-driving cars?
• What states allow self-driving cars?
• How safe are self-driving cars?
• How will self-driving effect rideshare drivers?

Let's dive in.

What are autonomous cars?

Easy question to answer right?

Not so much. You see, there are various levels of "autonomous cars" and companies are developing technology to tackle each one of them.

Brian Solis, a principal analyst of Altimeter, has defined autonomous cars as follows:

Picture Via: The Race to 2021: The State of Autonomous Vehicles and a "Who's Who" of Industry Drivers

Most cars are still at Level 2, where drivers are still in full control of the car, have their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, however, have some sort of cruise control functionality enabled. Many automakers are promising to move from Level 2 all the way to Level 5 by the end of 2021.

In fact, you can see a list of automakers that have made significant progress toward a fully autonomous car and are said to be on pace to reach their goals by 2021 below:

- Uber (in partnership with Volvo)
- Lyft (in partnership with General Motors and Ford)
- Google's Waymo
- Toyota
- BMW
- Nissan
- Ford
- Daimler
- Tesla
- Baidu
- Bosch

How will autonomous cars be used?

To a rideshare driver and the public, one of the most lucrative markets for an autonomous car would seem to be taxi services, however, there are many use cases for these vehicles.

According to Brian Solis, there are 5 main categories for autonomous cars with multiple use cases within each category

Industrial

• Warehouse
• Farming
• Construction
• Military

Purpose/Specialized

• Tourism/Travel
• Care/Medical
• Racing

Transportation

• Mass Transit
• Shuttle
• Ride/Hail

Consumer

• Owned
• Shared
• Task driven
• Retail delivery

Logistics

• Cargo/Freight
• Delivery
• Parcel

While the use cases for a taxi like service is more visible, use cases such as trucking, parcel delivery, and shuttles have seen more traction. For instance, in Europe and Asia, there are many hospitals, airports, and university campuses that use a service called Navya instead of standard shuttle buses.

What Legal Hurdles Stand in The Way?

As of today, there are 21 states that have passed some sort of legislation allowing autonomous cars in some form or fashion.

See a map below from the National Conference of State Legislators:

Last September Congress also passed the SELF DRIVE Act, which lays out a basic federal framework for autonomous vehicle regulation, signaling that federal lawmakers are finally ready to think seriously about self-driving cars and what they mean for the future of the country.

Now I know what you're thinking, disruptive technology companies have famously done a lousy job working with regulators across the globe. Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and other tech giants have had their fair share of public court cases, however, automobile manufacturers, more than anyone else, have a reputation for working closely with the government to understand (and potentially shape) regulations and compliance.

Given automobile makers willingness to work with legislators along with Congress's new found interest in the self-driving car industry, it appears that regulation for these vehicles will be worked out.

How safe are autonomous cars?

One of the largest hurdles that any company will need to jump over will be ensuring autonomous cars are safe, which is why Uber's incident in Arizona was such a big deal.

Since then, Arizona has suspended Uber's autonomous car program for the time being, even after Uber had voluntarily pulled its autonomous cars from the road and every autonomous car maker is having to answer questions about safety in their cars.

Lyft's cofounder and CEO John Zimmer was quoted as saying “I don’t know all the specifics. I did see the video. It did look like both the tech and the driver could have or should have prevented that. But I don’t know all the details,” while also stating that “We need to make sure that all players are acting responsibly because, again, the goal is to actually make it a safer opportunity for people.”

What's important to note in this statement is that the goal of autonomous cars is to make driving significantly safer for pedestrians and drivers alike.

While the accident in Arizona was tragic and a catastrophic blow for Uber's self driving initiatives, it is worth noting that this was just the first instance of fully autonomous car resulting in a pedestrian fatality while more than 6,000 pedestrians were killed in accidents involving human drivers in just 2016. So while the self driving car industry is appropriately being scrutinized for it's failure, these cars so far are significantly safer than human driven cars in many circumstances.

What does all this mean for rideshare drivers?

For rideshare drivers, the most important thing to understand is that the world isn't just going to flip a switch and be completely autonomous. We are still 4-5 years away from autonomous cars being available to consumers, and even then, we could be 20+ years away from autonomous cars being the standard.

Just last year, Lyft's Vice President of Engineering Luc Vincent stated that the company would "always operate a hybrid network, with rides from both human-driven and self-driving cars.” He added that “When a passenger requests a ride that a self-driving car can complete, we may send one to complete the trip,” he also stated that “If that person needs to go somewhere self-driving cars are unable to navigate, or their needs call for a different level of service, they will have a driver. But in either event, we’ll make sure everyone can get where they need to go.”

Here, Vincent is talking about cases where human interaction is still vital. Philipp Kampshoff of the consulting firm McKinsey & Co noted a prime example of a use case that is extremely difficult to automate. "Another example is a construction site where you have a red traffic light, and the autonomous vehicle is approaching the red traffic light, but there is a construction worker who waves the people and cars through. How does the autonomous vehicle know that it can ignore the red traffic light? So these are the kinds of edge cases that have to be overcome for autonomous vehicles to really be out there in mass adoption."

Because of these fringe cases, we believe that there will always be a place for a driver behind the wheel, however, autonomous cars may make for additional opportunities for rideshare drivers as Lyft's Director of Product Taggart Matthiesen alluded to in a conversation with Recode from last August.

"As far as I’m concerned, they will (human drivers) continue to be that. Over time, technology will give us the opportunity to provide additional services on our platform, whether that is a concierge service, whether that is an in-vehicle experience ... these are all things that we will slowly evolve and work with our drivers on."

Here, Taggart is referring to the ability for drivers in vehicles to act as operators or even a concierge service for the cars instead of drivers. This is similar to how the trucking industry views the role of drivers.

Taggert later added “If I need to go to the doctor’s office and my leg is in a cast and I can’t drive, we have a service for that,” he said. “If you get into the world of autonomous, we may need someone in that vehicle to help that person. There are things we’re doing beyond getting a passenger from point A to point B, additional services that we as a company can look at.”

There may be even more opportunity for rideshare drivers to become operators of their own fleet of autonomous cars. This would be similar to Turo's model where drivers simply rent out their autonomous cars to the Uber's and Lyft's of the world and take home some fee as they sit at home. Drivers would just need to keep the vehicles well maintained.

Don't Worry, But Stay Vigilant

We are far from a seeing the current rideshare model make any significant amount of changes, so you don't need to worry about a robot car overtaking you as a rideshare driver any time soon. However, drivers do need to stay Vigilant about emerging trends and technologies so you can see what's coming and *take advantage of opportunities*.

The rideshare industry has come a long way since 2009 when Uber was first launched.

Dozen's of additional transportation companies have been launched including driver favorites like Via and Juno. New services like Uber Pool and Lyft Line have been championed, and unfortunately, driver fares for the most part, have gone down while the supply of drivers has skyrocketed.

These fluctuating rates and a rapidly changing industry have begged the question: How much are rideshare drivers really making? Well, over the past few months and years we've received a number of answers from various scientific studies and surveys that have come up with different answers to that question along with different reasoning.

We want to better understand what the economic landscape for rideshare drivers is, so we took a deep dive into the various studies of the rideshare industry to try to gain a complete understanding of how much rideshare drivers are making and WHY rideshare drivers make what they make.

The Studies

The Gig economy is one of the most heavily researched industries in the world today because of how little we currently know about it.

Questions like, what would happen if Uber dissolved, how does discrimination affect the gig economy, and what is the tax impact of the gig economy have economist rushing to understand who is involved and how it affects the macro and micro-economic landscapes. As a result, we can see public studies like these.

• The Gender Earnings Gap in the Gig Economy: Evidence from over a Million Rideshare Drivers
• 2018 Uber and Lyft Driver Survey Results – The Rideshare Guy
• 2018 MIT Uber earnings study
• Revised 2018 MIT Uber earnings study
• The Ridesharing Revolution: Economic Survey and Synthesis
• Labor Market Equilibration: Evidence from Uber

Each of these studies helps us piece together the past and present of the rideshare industry and gives us clues into the future of the rideshare industry.

Let's start our analysis of these reports by seeing how these reports answer everyone's most burning question.

How much do drivers make?

Over the past few weeks, Uber has found itself in a PR nightmare caused by MIT's initial study that claimed rideshare drivers made a mere $3.37 per hour after expenses with a whopping 74% of drivers making less than minimum wage.

In response, Dana Khosrowshahi, Uber's new CEO following the departure of Travis Kalanick, criticized MIT by calling it the University of "Mathematically Incompetent Theories" while noting that various other studies have significantly different findings.

MIT = Mathematically Incompetent Theories (at least as it pertains to ride-sharing). @techreview report differs markedly from other academic studies and @TheRideshareGuy recent survey. Our analysis: https://t.co/S2aAqCuDR0

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) March 3, 2018

So who's correct here? Let's look at the data.

Driver Earnings Data

Various studies, reports, and surveys have found the following results:

• Rideshare guy 2018: $16.93
• Rideshare guy 2017: $15.68
• Stanford Pay Gap Study 2017: $21.07
• Princeton Labor Market Analysis 2015: $19.04
• MIT Study #1 2018: $3.37
• Revised MIT Study 2018: $8.55 - $10.00 (profit after expenses)

The differences in each one of these reports or studies can stem from a number of different factors including most notably when it was taken, who was in the sample, and survey method.

The clear outlier here is MIT's initial study that revealed that drivers were making on average $3.37 after taxes and was publically scrutinized by Uber's Chief Economist, Jonathan Hall in a medium post.

The issue that Hall pointed out in MIT's study was an unclear question which he claimed caused a $6 difference in total profit per hour.

See a deeper explanation of the claimed question error below:

The Rideshare Guy survey asks a number of questions about how much drivers earn and how many hours they work per week. The most important are questions 11, 14, and 15.

Q11: “How many hours per week do you work on average? Combine all of the on-demand services that you work for.”

Q14: “How much money do you make in the average month? Combine the income from all your on-demand activities.”

Q15: “How much of your total monthly income comes from driving?”

The problem, in this case, is inconsistent logic on the part of the paper’s authors. Consider this: for question 14, the authors assume respondents are reporting income from *all* sources, not just on-demand work. As a result of this assumption, the authors discount the earnings from Q14 by the answer to Q15, “How much of your total monthly income comes from driving?”

For example: if a driver answered $1,000 to $2,000 to Q14, the authors would interpret that as $1,420.63² according to their methodology. If the respondent then answered “Around half” to Q15, the authors conclude this driver made $710.32 driving — half what they actually earned from driving with ridesharing platforms.***

Stephen Zoepf, co-author of MIT's study, recognized that the criticism from the rideshare industry was, in fact, valid and made changes to his methodology. In his second attempt at analyzing these figures, MIT found that median after expense profit rose to $8.55 an hour.

Here is my statement regarding the recent CEEPR working paper "The Economics of Ride Hailing." pic.twitter.com/lHJkaB0frX

— Stephen Zoepf (@StephenZoepf) March 5, 2018

These figures are more in line with what previous studies have found such as those from the Rideshare Guy.

Given this data, we can see that earnings before expenses for rideshare drivers can range from around $15 per hour to $21.09 per hour according to these reports. This is an incredibly wide range, so what factors most commonly effect driver earnings?

Well, location is one of the largest factors in how much you make before and after expenses. A driver in New York has traditionally made as much as 2x more than what a driver in any other city has made. Hard city by city data has been difficult to obtain, however, we do have a 2015 survey from Sherpashare that found the following:

Aside from location, we can look to Stanford's gender pay gap study to help explain why some drivers make more than others.

Driving experience means everything

In my opinion, the most important graph for every rideshare driver to understand comes from Stanford's gender pay gap study. The graph plots total earnings against the number of trips a driver has given.

Stanford's study attempted to find out if there was a gender pay gap in the rideshare industry, and if so why? Well, the report found that there was a 7% difference in pay between men and women, however, this wasn't discriminatory in nature, it was based on experience and driving speed.

The study found that women are less likely to stick with Uber or Lyft for a long period of time. In fact, the 6-month attrition rate for women was 76.5% while the 6-month attrition for men was just 65.0%.

This means that women are less likely to obtain the amount of experience that a driver needs to be able to understand their city, find the best driving routes, times, and locations.

We can also see that in the Rideshare Guy's 2018 survey which finds that experience is a heavy factor in driver earnings.

With a lack of experience comes significantly more downtime as a driver, which a study completed by NYU's John Horton with help from Uber's Jonathan Hall and Daniel Knoepfle, called “Labor Market Equilibration: Evidence from Uber" shows is extremely important.

Let me explain

Transportation companies have consistently and publicly reduced fares multiple times over the last few years. See a graphical representation of the fare reductions below.

However, despite these fare decreases the Rideshare Guy's 2017 and 2018 surveys find that drivers are making slightly more. If we look at the two academic studies done by Stanford and Princeton, we again see that drivers are supposedly making more per hour despite fare decreases.

Why?

The study completed by NYU's John Horton with help from Uber's Jonathan Hall and Daniel Knoepfle, found that a change in the base fares had little to no effect on how much a driver gets paid.

This because of Supply and demand.

When fares decrease, drivers may be paid less, but there is also a flood of riders on the system which results in more available rides for drivers. If fares increase, drivers get paid more, but passengers are scared off and will find other ways to travel.

The bottom line is that when transportation companies decrease fares, driver earnings ARE NOT likely to change because drivers spend significantly less time idle than they otherwise would.

This shows that preventing idle time by understanding where you are driving will do more to increase your earnings per hour than almost anything else.

Stanford's gender pay gap study takes this even further by noting that how fast drivers travel during trips can significantly effect earnings.

Men on average drove faster than women, which means they were able to drive more miles with passengers. This resulted in men having more trips per hour and making more per hour. This is likely again due to men on average having more experience behind the wheel.

What can drivers do to stay ahead?

Now that we know how much the average driver is making and why, we can look at how drivers can stay ahead of the curve.

1. Don't sweat price hikes and increases

As we saw in a labor study report conducted in part by Uber's own Chief Economist, rate hikes, and decreases do little to effect a drivers earnings. Uber and other ride-sharing services understand that they must rely heavily on incentive payment programs like "quests" to increase driver earnings.

2. Do take advantage of bonuses

Just as the rideshare companies understand that incentive programs are the biggest factor in increasing driver income, so should you. When you have a bonus or quest opportunity that does not interfere with you making your normal amount, take it.

3. Focus on open roads

It can be tempting to always drive in downtown areas, however, if traffic is bad that may not be the best option. If the amount of traffic is slowing you down and decreasing your trips per hour, you're likely to find more success driving in another area even if that means driving Pool/Line or accepting shorter rides.

4. Track every last mile

What has often been missed in MIT's study is their reporting that up to 74% of a drivers income can go untaxed.

From the study:

On a monthly basis, mean profit is $661/month (median $310). Drivers are eligible to use a Standard Mileage Deduction for tax purposes ($0.54/mile in 2016) which far exceeds median costs per mile of $0.30/mile. Because of this deduction, most ridehailing drivers are able to declare profits that are substantially lower. Mean drivers who use a Standard Mileage Deduction would declare taxable profit of $175 rather than the $661 earned. These numbers suggest that approximately 74% of driver profit is untaxed.

This goes to show the extreme importance of tracking every last mile. Not just what Uber or Lyft sends you, not what you estimate, but every last mile that you are driving for a transportation company.

5. Drive smarter faster

As we saw time and time again when reviewing these various reports, driving experience is paramount. It is very difficult to be a profitable driver if you don't have a keen understanding of where to drive in your city and when to drive in your city. New drivers can use Gridwise to help them immediately understand their city while also taking cues from blogs like this one, Ridster and The Rideshare Guy, along with city-specific Facebook groups and forums like UberForum.

Now we're curious, are you seeing earnings in line with these various reports? What do you think is the biggest factor in your earnings success? Let us know in the comments below!

Every now and then we come across a rideshare driver with a unique strategy that works well for them and their specific situation.

One of the most unique strategies that we have come across is used by a Gridwiser named Vegas.

Vegas is a D.C. area driver who drives the normal routes in the DMV. He frequents Dulles and Ronald Reagan airports, stays downtown for the rush hour, and sticks to the bars during late nights.

So what's unique about Vegas' strategy?

Well, Vegas lives in Newport News Virginia which is about 170 miles away from the District of Columbia. He, along with a team of 2 other drivers head to the D.C. area every week to drive.

"We pack up Thursday morning very early, around 3:00 am so that we get to near D.C. around 6:00 am." Says Vegas. "From there, we decide what airport we want to go to and just flow from there."

Why would you drive so far?!?!

Our first question, and I'm sure your first question when reading this article is why would you drive so far just to drive Uber? Well, to answer that question you have to know a bit about Vegas and why he drives.

Vegas, is a man that cares about his family who reside in Newport beach, so he likes to stay close. However, he also craves the freedom and flexibility that being a full-time rideshare driver provides.

And he's not afraid to put in some long hours to keep that freedom.

Newport News isn't a large city by any means so there just isn't enough demand to make sure that Vegas makes what he needs to on a weekly basis. So Vegas decided to take manners into his own hands.

"Instead of just waiting around for a ride in Newport News, we spend 2 or 3 days at a time to travel to D.C., drive hard, hit our numbers, and head home." Says Vegas.

As you would expect that leads to some long hours and a night or two sleeping in your car, but also a few really fun nights with his fellow drivers.

Vegas and his crew work hard, but they have a great time together

Do rideshare companies allow drivers to drive in other cities or states?

Another question we had when we first talked to Vegas was how exactly he managed to drive in multiple states with Uber and Lyft.

We knew that once a driver signs up to drive in city that he or she can drive in any city in their home state, but how do you cross state lines and drive?

Well, it turns out that Uber doesn't usually allow this. However, in certain areas where there is a lot of cross traffic like D.C., they will allow you to cross state lines for both drop-offs and pickups. Other transportation companies like Lyft will allow drivers to pick up and drop off passengers without incident across state lines.

Because Vegas and his team are Virginia drivers, they can travel all the way up to D.C. and Maryland and successfully pick up passengers.

What about insurance?

Here is where things get a bit tricky. Most insurance companies work on a state by state basis, so if you decide to drive in another state and Uber or Lyft allow you to drive in another state, that doesn't mean that your insurance company will cover you.

Many areas with a significant amount of cross traffic like the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area will build in cross state coverage, however, this is something that you would want to individually double check.

The Rideshare guy has a great list of insurance agents that specialize in Rideshare Insurance here.

How does they do it?

If you're going to drive 170 miles just to start working, you better come with a strategy, and Vegas and his team have built one that relies heavily on airports.

When Vegas starts to get close to D.C. at about 6:00am, he turns on Gridwise and figures out what airports have the most passengers coming in and the smallest queue, and that's where they head first. From there, he will focus on the morning rush hour downtown, and then meet with his team for a break at lunch before the afternoon rush hour.

If there is ever a lull in demand Vegas will look to Gridwise's airport demand feature to see what airports are peaking so he can head in that direction.

What's great about working with another driver is that you have each others back. That means that if one driver isn't getting any pings and another driver is in the middle of a surge, he can let that driver know that there is a real surge going on and that he or she should head in that direction. Working with another driver also means that if something happens like a flat tire or a dead battery, you have someone to call to give you a hand.

Is it worth it? Who should be using this strategy?

Even if you can drive across state lines, or to more populated cities in your state, that doesn't mean it will be the best strategy for you.

Vegas is in a unique position where he is able and willing to make the trek up to a larger city while also really needing to in order to meet his weekly quota. However, if you were driving in a city like Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa and considering a drive to Orlando or Miami, that may not always be worth it, unless there is a special event that you want to drive.

For instance, drivers in Atlanta frequently make the trip to Athens to be around for Georgia football games on Saturdays in the fall. This is worthwhile because Georgia football games aren't just a single event. They are an all-day marathon of tailgates, parties, and then the game.

If you're in a city that has a good amount of demand, it's probably not going to be worth your while to chase demand to other major cities. However, if you want to be in town for a certain event. That can certainly be an attractive option.

What's your strategy?

We love a unique driving strategy and the hustle that it takes to head all the way up to D.C. from Newport News is commendable. But now we want to hear from you guys, do you have a unique driving strategy? Let us know in the comments below!