# Uber, Lyft boost driver pay as demand for rides soars



## KevinH (Jul 13, 2014)

Uber, Lyft boost driver pay as demand for rides soars


Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft are boosting driver pay in a desperate effort to meet soaring demand for their services as the pandemic wanes. In some major cities, including Denver and Philad…




nypost.com





By Lisa Fickenscher April 22, 2021 | 4:01pm | Updated









Getty Images

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Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft are boosting driver pay in a desperate effort to meet soaring demand for their services as the pandemic wanes.
In some major cities, including Denver and Philadelphia, Lyft drivers are making $44 and $43 an hour respectively, while Uber drivers are making an average $38 an hour in New York City and Philadelphia — not including tips and expenses, an Uber spokesman told The Post.
The pay boost is nearly double what drivers had earned before the pandemic, and sources say it’s due at least in part to financial “incentives” the companies are adding to what drivers might otherwise make from a ride in an effort to convince more gig-economy workers to get back on the road.
Some of the souped up pay may also be from higher fares as Uber and Lyft charge riders based on supply-and-demand algorithms. But Uber last month said it’s set aside $250 million in incentives for drivers. Lyft has also said its offering bonuses, but has not announced a total amount.
Neither company has explained how these incentives or bonuses boost driver pay.
Members of the Independent Drivers Guild rally in support of drivers at Uber and Lyft’s NYC headquarters during a 2019 action.AFP via Getty Images
Whatever the formula, it now appears that Uber drivers can earn more than $1,000 and close to $2,000 extra if they make anywhere from 100 to 200 trips in a month under the pay perks.
And Lyft drivers now making an average $36 an hour in Lyft’s top 25 markets, compared with $20 before COVID-19, the company told The Post.
El Paso driver, Misty Huffman, who’d worked sporadically for Uber, recently pulled in $1,000 over a weekend, which is more than what she earns as a respiratory therapist, she told Bloomberg.

“The incentives are crazy right now,” she added. 

It’s a big change from before the pandemic when drivers complained about shrinking wages as the two companies slashed fares in an effort to compete. Last year when the pandemic hit, both companies saw ride volumes plummet by more than two thirds, according to the Bloomberg report.
Demand for ride-hailing services has grown amid rising vaccinations.
Lyft’s sales for the week ended March 29 were 80 percent higher than in the first week of the year, and Uber’s rose by 76 percent over the same period, according to Second Measure. 

Uber said March 2021 was its best month since the previous March, when the pandemic began and people stayed put in their homes.

But drivers have been more scarce. Some are reluctant to jeopardize their health by driving strangers around, especially at a time when of increased unemployment benefits. Some drivers may have also found new jobs as the economy has reopened.


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

guess that means going back online in May I will get a raise?


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## Frontier Guy (Dec 27, 2015)

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Boost driver pay🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 They'll keep paying surges, bonuses, etc., until enough drivers hit the streets, then they'll shut it down like your ex-wife and continue to pay you pennies, while Dara sips Dom from a strippers slipper on his yacht. Get real, until drivers rise-up and stop being treated like a disposable commodity. U/L will continue to abuse.


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## Mole (Mar 9, 2017)

This is a total lie they just cut drivers pay in California over 30%


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## Mole (Mar 9, 2017)

SHalester said:


> guess that means going back online in May I will get a raise?


No you will not.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

They forgot to mention how they revamped and are pushing the reserved rides, resulting in all those incentives being lost


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## Rideshare Dude (Aug 27, 2020)

“...an Uber spokesman told the post.”

This is a pay-to-play puff piece. They are also using engaged time to calculate those pay rates. Which means they exclude time spent between rides waiting for your next tide.


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

Mole said:


> No you will not.


You are a buzz kill.


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## Mole (Mar 9, 2017)

SHalester said:


> You are a buzz kill.


Reality and facts over rule fantasy and dreams.


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## 156824 (Aug 9, 2018)

KevinH said:


> Uber, Lyft boost driver pay as demand for rides soars
> 
> 
> Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft are boosting driver pay in a desperate effort to meet soaring demand for their services as the pandemic wanes. In some major cities, including Denver and Philad…
> ...


It’s bs in the Bay Area they lowered the rates and took away multiplier and they charge 5x to pax and give us $3 it’s worst then ever


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

.....but the 3 rides in a week $100 bucks is still available to those of us who haven't been online in a year. So, there's that? current promo goes to 5/10, might even get that one since I'm free to go back online first week of may.


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## Daisey77 (Jan 13, 2016)

SHalester said:


> .....but the 3 rides in a week $100 bucks is still available to those of us who haven't been online in a year. So, there's that? current promo goes to 5/10, might even get that one since I'm free to go back online first week of may.


That is a bonus. Not an increase in pay. It is a one-time thing. Not a long-term thing.

And you're free to go online now. you're choosing not to. So there's that . . .


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## SHalester (Aug 25, 2019)

Daisey77 said:


> It is a one-time thing. Not a long-term thing.


yeah, I thought that was clear? It's a 'promo' that goes to drivers who haven't been online. I thought that was clear enough to prevent hair splitting from the rocking chair peanut gallery? 

Free to go online now? I suppose if I was single, lived alone and had nobody in my orbit I'd be 'free'. I guess? It's hard to connect to that feeling since I'm none of those things. Right?

Others who do have those things drove the entire time; great from them, they deserve the Hero Bill bonuses; but sadly that bill died when sent to the senate, right?

I 'feel' free to take pax again when the mind control, tracking gogo juice is fully effective first week in May. Then I choose to. So, there's that.

Clear as mud now?


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## Loch Ness Driver (Mar 23, 2021)

$1-2k/mo extra bonus... Are they referring to quest bonuses?


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## somedriverguy (Sep 6, 2016)

Hey, any journalist at all, please name a business where the industry standard is 40% commision on sales of items you dont have to buy until after you've sold them and you get the commission even if you sell the product at a loss.

Year over year, no one time there was a sale bullshit.

Go ahead, we're waiting.

We know that 50% off your next hundred rides coupon isn't gonna spend itself.


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## ANT 7 (Oct 14, 2018)

This kind of stuff never happens in my market.

We're down 25-30% pretty much every day.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

Bookings is not the same as rides.

Bookings may be up 10% while rides could be down 30% because of the driver shortage.


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