# Pulling my hair out in Colorado Springs



## cb80907

So I've been at this driving gig with Lyft for just over a year now, and I have to say it: Lyft is virtually dead here in Colorado Springs. Here in Colorado Springs, and in quite a few other cities elsewhere from the look of things. Last summer, it was insane here: no matter what night I logged in, I was almost always busy until right around daybreak. Hindsight though tells me something different: it was only busy because they gave away 50 free rides to each new passenger. Each ride was good for $25. If you do the math, that's $1,250 per passenger. Honest to god who thinks giving away that many rides for that much money per person is a good way to launch service in a market like this? Seriously? After a lot of abuse, and a lot of money spent on this campaign, Lyft started to go dark in September of last year. I was there, and I remember seeing it for myself. First, there were the rate cuts they announced right after Labor Day last year. They justified it as good for business...they made the argument that cutting rates here would attract more customers. It didn't. Not in any sense. So, a lot of us drivers, perceiving that Lyft would never advertise the way they do up in the Denver area (what with billboards, bus ads and logo placement during Broncos games), turned to the passenger referral program. We came pretty close to hitting gold last October with three local colleges, one of which was going to start promoting Lyft in exchange for one free ride per new passenger. One of these colleges was all over that, and it got to a point where one of the other drivers in my area even spent $5,000 of his own money to print off enough cards for 22,000 free ride codes. Those of us who remained as drivers were giddy about this, as we figured that if this succeeds, then maybe Lyft will listen to us. Hell no.

Late October comes. We're a few days out from Halloween, the day the joint marketing campaign with the local community college was scheduled to launch, when we all get an email stating that the passenger referral program was being put on pause while they "tested" different marketing initiatives in our area and in a bunch of others. We begged and pleaded with marketing to not do this, and I took the route of personally contacting John Zimmerman and Logan Green to basically say for the love of god, don't do this to us. In the end, they refused to honor any single code beyond October 31st, and in the end all we were able to snag was maybe 50 new passengers for Halloween night. This community college was only literally given hours to put out these codes, and while they were pissed over what Lyft did, they understood we couldn't do a thing about it as drivers. We begged, pleaded and argued with Lyft for about two weeks, with their justification being that the passenger referral program just wasn't working. I don't know how many times I personally told them that just relying on a Facebook page for advertising and a Twitter page for advertising in most areas where no one will know about Lyft unless they hear about it directly from a driver is not how you conduct advertising at all. They didn't listen, and for months, it was quiet. New Year's Eve came, and they sent emails out left and right proclaiming how it would be their busiest night of the year - wrong again. I was on from 4 PM that day until 4 the next morning, and along with virtually every other driver I knew on that night, we all got maybe 4 to 5 passengers the entire night - the local cab company, Yellow Cab, stole the show by having (for yet another year) free cab night. We all saw quite a few people who had denounced this very company in our cars leave the bars and nightclubs around here for...wait for it...a free ride with Yellow Cab. On St. Patrick's Day, same thing. Cinco De Mayo, same thing. Free cabs. It even happens on quite a few nights at other times of the year: I would literally drive by and see these same people take a cab to get home. Small wonder I want to tear my hair out each time.

Now, here it is a year later, and Lyft is doing nothing to promote their company in Colorado Springs. We drivers still do have the ability to conduct our own advertising on behalf of Lyft, but now the case is this: they charge us for advertising materials, and to pour on insult after insult, there's no incentive whatsoever, not even $5 off, for new passengers to sign up. Yes, here Lyft is less expensive than Uber, but with no single driver wanting to advertise simply because there is zero incentive from Lyft to do so, business is all but dead. Well, not completely dead...for almost 50 hours driven last week, I'm getting maybe $240 for my time. Even then, most of us here are having to work nights...right when the bars and clubs are open. Days are pretty much a joke - several certain drivers in my area have managed for months on end to hog all of the passengers one could theoretically find during the daytime, and a number of drivers have kept on recruiting and conducting mentor sessions here, the results of which I most prominently see on Wednesday through Saturday (the busiest nights of the week - barely anyone is out on Sunday through Tuesday) - 20 plus drivers scattered throughout the city, with literally 10 or more hovering near downtown - the one major hotspot in the entire city. Uber doesn't seem to exist much in my area - I am constantly hearing from passengers how they cannot find one single Uber vehicle (more on that below). The only other constant in the downtown area, and lined up in long lines at every single other establishment in Colorado Springs? Yellow Cab's taxi fleet. And god, do they take a hell of a lot of business. As for Lyft's advertising? Their last idea, which made everyone's jaw drop just because of how unfeasible it was (and how much of a show of Lyft's lack of research into our area really is at play), was one that touted $300 in exchange for referring a local business that would pay for employees to take Lyft to and from work. With this being a highly conservative city (both socially and fiscally), we had to reread Lyft's latest marketing blunder several times, openly wondering why the hell a bunch of call centers and Wal-Mart would even bother paying for such a thing when their big deal is that you get to work on your dime, not theirs. Lyft amazes the hell out of me with how out of touch and unreal they can be.

Now, onto that part about Uber...I'm one of those drivers who doesn't have any real good employment prospects. When I started doing Lyft last year, it was at a part time basis. For the first month or so, I was averaging about $800 to $1,000 a week, up until around Labor Day. Sadly, all of that money went right into car repairs and bills I had been behind on since having endured a brief layoff early last year. My other job folded last September, and since then I have had to fall back onto Lyft as a full time source of employment. And believe me, for $150 to $250 a week, it sucks. It really, really sucks, especially in a city such as Colorado Springs. Why don't I drive for Uber, you ask? It's simple: my car. I'm embarrassed by it, and at this stage I wouldn't pass muster for Uber. Having incurred two broken windows thanks to passengers, a car that I can never seem to keep completely clean despite my best efforts (passengers here in my experience tend to be dirty), a door that no longer has the ability to stay open from people constantly slamming the door shut, and an overdue engine service, I simply wouldn't make it with Uber. Even after countless months of filling out job applications, countless months of trying to obtain at least temporary work through the local temp agencies, god knows how many interviews, numerous efforts to obtain side work, I'm stuck with Lyft. And with how much I make off of driving, and all of it going right back into keeping up on bills and gas, my car may very well fall apart before I even see a job offer. Hopefully, later this week, at yet another interview I'm going through, I'll get one, but for months and months and months, all I have had is Lyft. And I don't get how they could blow it so badly, especially when they know a lot of drivers are in the same exact boat as me. If you're someone who at least has a backup job, get away from Lyft. At least Uber is pure and uncut when it comes to their evil. Lyft will just smile and tell you it's all for your own good, all while spouting off about how we're changing the world one ride at a time and are one big happy community (I almost puked just writing that).


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## Mr_Frenchie

Is it possible to drive North to Denver? till it get’s better in CS?


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## leroy jenkins

So I've been at this driving gig with Lyft for just over a year now, and I have to say it: Lyft is virtually dead here in Colorado Springs

you're answer is right there. Uber/Lyft absolutely does not work in small cities/towns--except for the Saturday nights. Everyone who can afford it has a car. And peeps only use Uber/Lyft when they go drinking, the car's in the shop, going to the airport or they're out-of-townrs.

All it takes is 3 online drivers and the market is flooded.


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## cb80907

Mr_Frenchie said:


> Is it possible to drive North to Denver? till it get's better in CS?


It's not any better up in Denver. Yes, there's more demand, but since they cut rates up there as well, and oversaturated the area with more drivers, I haven't made as much as I could be doing.


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## cb80907

leroy jenkins said:


> you're answer is right there. Uber/Lyft absolutely does not work in small cities/towns--except for the Saturday nights. Everyone who can afford it has a car. And peeps only use Uber/Lyft when they go drinking, the car's in the shop, going to the airport or they're out-of-townrs.
> 
> All it takes is 3 online drivers and the market is flooded.


You're absolutely right, Leroy. Uber/Lyft do not work in small cities/towns. Especially here - literally everyone either prefers to drive their own cars, or, due to a lack of enforcement by the local police department, almost universally prefers risking a DUI just because they would rather take their own cars. The area I live in has almost half a million people, and as noted, everyone drives here. Despite there being potential with two major universities in the area and one large community college spread out across three separate campuses, Lyft alone refuses to conduct any major advertising, allowing Uber to gain ground even with the few drivers it has here. That right there is another major problem: Lyft puts everything on the shoulders of us drivers, and patently refuses to do anything outside of it's social media pages for advertising, unless of course you live in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago or New York City. When mentioning Lyft to people I am talking to, the average response generally consists of "What is Lyft?" I normally have to ask them if they have heard of Uber before, which of course they have. There's simply nothing done as far as real, meaningful advertising on the part of Lyft, and what really complicates things is the fact that quite a few local businesses have simply thrown away whatever things we drivers have left with them, simply because it's viewed as "sketchy" because they have never heard of it. And those people you mention, those who only use Uber/Lyft when they go drinking or are from elsewhere? They're in the minority here, and while they have been trying to get friends and family to use Lyft, even they are unsuccessful. Driving in an area like this is basically like pulling teeth. There's little to be made here and nothing being really done to support drivers on the ground. It's frustrating and it's really beginning to drive me away from being a TNC driver for good.


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## duggles

Sounds like the experiences you're having with the depreciation and the job not covering those costs is simply a precursor to what will happen to larger Uber/Lyft cities in the coming year or two. It will take more time to see this issue become widespread, but this is the consequence of these low rates and eventually it will catch up to those desperate enough or dumb enough to keep on driving. 

Since Lyft lowered their rates in Denver a few weeks ago, I haven't driven. Stopped driving Uber when they did their January drop.


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## cb80907

duggles said:


> Sounds like the experiences you're having with the depreciation and the job not covering those costs is simply a precursor to what will happen to larger Uber/Lyft cities in the coming year or two. It will take more time to see this issue become widespread, but this is the consequence of these low rates and eventually it will catch up to those desperate enough or dumb enough to keep on driving.
> 
> Since Lyft lowered their rates in Denver a few weeks ago, I haven't driven. Stopped driving Uber when they did their January drop.


That's pretty much it right there. I don't know how Uber and Lyft can be this blind to their decisions resulting in the exact thing myself and many other drivers are going through. When they dropped rates down here in Colorado Springs last fall, they indicated it was supposed to be temporary. I don't know how on earth they could do this knowing Uber was in the area already and knowing that Uber would drop their rates in response. I really don't know how they could have figured Uber would absolutely do nothing when it was Lyft who stepped up to what can be best described as the schoolyard bully and made the first push to begin with. It's almost like the people who handle marketing and pricing perpetually live in an alternate universe where everything is shiny and happy and great. I seriously question their intelligence with each dumb decision they hand down. And with as often as they like to say we're part of this big, mysterious community, the real question is if we drivers really are part of a community like Lyft says we are, then why the hell don't they at least tell us about these kind of things way ahead of time instead of at the last possible minute? It's almost tempting to drive to San Francisco and camp out in their offices until someone in there explains in full and honest detail their entire logic behind why they do what they do. And as far as the lower rates in Denver, I'm almost counting on Uber to step in, lower theirs again, and make those rate cuts for Lyft in Denver permanent.


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## My Cabby

Have you seen the blue, black and silver Springs Cab here? Springs cab rate is $350 per week if you have your own car. $450 week if you lease. Many Uber and Lyft drivers have gone to Springs @ 2.30 a mile plus base and wait time with tips. You can make your lease in one day and the rest of the week is profit. 

Yellow Cab here is $2.50 a mile, $2.50 base and .30 wait time plus tips. $550 a week lease for owners and $650 a week for rental. $85 to $100 of that is set aside for maintenance fund for owners and for rentals, maintenance is free. 

Both companies have work comp included.

Yellow cab has free rides on holidays so drivers make bank. I made almost $1,000 on NYE when I was with Yellow Cab because the tips are overwhelming becuase the rider likes free rides and drivers love to cash in the vouchers which are most always equal to the tips.

Every cab driver here makes a point to let cab customers know that these companies are exploiting drivers who are inexperienced and naive and do not have commercial insurance. This is a high end community and most customers, excluding students and workers will take a cab or limo before they risk being seen in an uninsured UBER X. Cabs here are well maintained, even have SUV's, Hummer's and Yukons and can't be older than 6 years.

Yellow cab in Denver are taking on drivers and their cars and are not requiring them to paint them yellow, Yellow Cab here in the Springs are in the dark ages and is still requiring Yellow cars. Springs Cab is smarter, they are signing up ride share drivers daily because they are requiring little signage, removable taxi meters and overhead lights with no holes inserted in the cars.

Maybe you should go to springs and share a taxi for 12 hour shift. I hear it's only $200 a week for each driver.


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## cb80907

My Cabby said:


> Have you seen the blue, black and silver Springs Cab here? Springs cab rate is $350 per week if you have your own car. $450 week if you lease. Many Uber and Lyft drivers have gone to Springs @ 2.30 a mile plus base and wait time with tips. You can make your lease in one day and the rest of the week is profit.
> 
> Yellow Cab here is $2.50 a mile, $2.50 base and .30 wait time plus tips. $550 a week lease for owners and $650 a week for rental. $85 to $100 of that is set aside for maintenance fund for owners and for rentals, maintenance is free.
> 
> Both companies have work comp included.
> 
> Yellow cab has free rides on holidays so drivers make bank. I made almost $1,000 on NYE when I was with Yellow Cab because the tips are overwhelming becuase the rider likes free rides and drivers love to cash in the vouchers which are most always equal to the tips.
> 
> Every cab driver here makes a point to let cab customers know that these companies are exploiting drivers who are inexperienced and naive and do not have commercial insurance. This is a high end community and most customers, excluding students and workers will take a cab or limo before they risk being seen in an uninsured UBER X. Cabs here are well maintained, even have SUV's, Hummer's and Yukons and can't be older than 6 years.
> 
> Yellow cab in Denver are taking on drivers and their cars and are not requiring them to paint them yellow, Yellow Cab here in the Springs are in the dark ages and is still requiring Yellow cars. Springs Cab is smarter, they are signing up ride share drivers daily because they are requiring little signage, removable taxi meters and overhead lights with no holes inserted in the cars.
> 
> Maybe you should go to springs and share a taxi for 12 hour shift. I hear it's only $200 a week for each driver.


I have. Only drawback is that from what I've found, you have to have a cab license up front to even drive for either company, and it's my understanding that the lease is paid up front. And I imagine it was damn good on NYE with Yellow Cab - I was on the entire night with Lyft and barely made a thing. I constantly see them being busy as hell as is. For the moment, I'm trying to put my hopes with a few interviews I'm doing later this week. If you can give me any actual ideas on what the facts are behind signing up, that would be awesome. And yeah, you are right on this being a high end community. No normal person I know of uses Lyft or Uber here. No one. And frankly, this constant bashing that I hear about cabs gets annoying - many passengers complain about how long the wait times are for Yellow Cab and Springs Cab, and they complain about how much it costs them. Dare I say it: they almost come across as cheapskates. I almost want to stop them mid-sentence and tell them that those cab drivers are trying to make a living just like I am and just like these passengers are.

The free maintenance, on a side note, is really damn appealing. I'm driving a 2003 BMW 325xi with 130,000 miles on it, and the maintenance cost alone is through the roof. Just for full disclosure, that BMW wasn't the original vehicle I had been aiming for when car shopping - finance company pretty much stuck me with it at the time I went for it. I was originally going for a Ford, between 07 to 09 at least. I'll keep in mind what you said about Springs Cab, too.


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## My Cabby

Colorado Springs charges around $100 for license per year. Must present health & driving record. Fingerprinting charge is around $45 with the PUC and they will send you a authorization letter to drive. My letter never expires and I can drive for anyone with it. Some drivers have expiration dates, I don't know why. Yellow Cab requires the purchase of a city map for around $35 - Springs Cab doesn't. Yellow Cab micro manages, Spring Cab doesn't. Both offers first week at reduced rates to offset startup costs. The only time you pay a week ahead is if you are buying. They will work with you on that, but I would lease first to see what you make.

You can buy a car from either company, just tell them what you want. Both have cars for sale and would prefer you purchase than lease. Interest is high so it is better to buy your own car if you can. Yellow has more street calls, Springs overwhelmingly works Airport runs. The airlines give out $250 vouchers for Denver runs. It's good to have your own card processor if you can. Springs charges 4% and Yellow 6% processing fee.

I worked for Yellow for over two years. Mostly five days a week, 10 to 14 hour days and made around $700 to $1,200 a week profit after gas and expenses. Spring drivers tell me they pull in around $200 profit a day. When I worked for them I was only making $100 per day but they were new and only could work airport which is really boring unless you like to chat and read in the hot sun for long hours or when it's really cold. I prefer rolling at all times.

In the Winter profits increase because a lot of riders take cabs because of car problems and when it snows they like the cabs to take all the risks and save their deductible.

As a cab driver you can take street hails and build your own clientele. That's how I started my livery business. 

Good luck whatever you do!


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## cb80907

My Cabby said:


> Colorado Springs charges around $100 for license per year. Must present health & driving record. Fingerprinting charge is around $45 with the PUC and they will send you a authorization letter to drive. My letter never expires and I can drive for anyone with it. Some drivers have expiration dates, I don't know why. Yellow Cab requires the purchase of a city map for around $35 - Springs Cab doesn't. Yellow Cab micro manages, Spring Cab doesn't. Both offers first week at reduced rates to offset startup costs. The only time you pay a week ahead is if you are buying. They will work with you on that, but I would lease first to see what you make.
> 
> You can buy a car from either company, just tell them what you want. Both have cars for sale and would prefer you purchase than lease. Interest is high so it is better to buy your own car if you can. Yellow has more street calls, Springs overwhelmingly works Airport runs. The airlines give out $250 vouchers for Denver runs. It's good to have your own card processor if you can. Springs charges 4% and Yellow 6% processing fee.
> 
> I worked for Yellow for over two years. Mostly five days a week, 10 to 14 hour days and made around $700 to $1,200 a week profit after gas and expenses. Spring drivers tell me they pull in around $200 profit a day. When I worked for them I was only making $100 per day but they were new and only could work airport which is really boring unless you like to chat and read in the hot sun for long hours or when it's really cold. I prefer rolling at all times.
> 
> In the Winter profits increase because a lot of riders take cabs because of car problems and when it snows they like the cabs to take all the risks and save their deductible.
> 
> As a cab driver you can take street hails and build your own clientele. That's how I started my livery business.
> 
> Good luck whatever you do!


Thanks for the advice. Looks like I have a lot of saving to do, provided I can pull it off with Lyft. Hopefully I can at least drum up some odd jobs in my off hours if nothing else that will pay out enough to make the jump.


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## My Cabby

cb80907 said:


> Thanks for the advice. Looks like I have a lot of saving to do, provided I can pull it off with Lyft. Hopefully I can at least drum up some odd jobs in my off hours if nothing else that will pay out enough to make the jump.


To stay in the Taxi Business is not simple. You really do run your own business and have a lot of respo0nsibility, Driving Safely, Customer Service, Bookkeeping, Getting, Keeping & Tracking Customers (Personals), Routine maintenance, inspections and repairs is all key. Most important is pay your lease up front at the beginning of your week. If something happens at the end of the week you will always have your lease and will never be late so you will be valued.

How well you do your business will determine how well you do these things ...if not you will be out of biz in no time. At the three cab companies I've worked I've seen people last as little as One Day because they don't treat all their activities as a job business or are just to lazy to hustle and improve.

The money you have set aside for gas until Uber payday would be more than enough to get started ($150 to $200) and you can earn gas money and profit your 1st day so what's holding you back? I think the thoughts of commitment to work full time as a cab driver might be.

Good luck with whatever you decide.


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