So maybe the taxi drivers are right, and Uber/Lyft are evil, and we should just keep the old model? Because the old model explicitly includes tipping, whereas the new model (in Uber's case, at least) explicitly excludes it.

 

The old model also includes lies, deception and extortion.  No thank you, I'll keep Uber.  Just build the tip into the service price and call it a day.

So maybe the taxi drivers are right, and Uber/Lyft are evil, and we should just keep the old model? Because the old model explicitly includes tipping, whereas the new model (in Uber's case, at least) explicitly excludes it.

 

The old model also includes lies, deception and extortion.  No thank you, I'll keep Uber.  Just build the tip into the service price and call it a day.

 

Just to be clear, I was playing devil's advocate. But it does seem that if you want to drive for a tip-based agency, you can just drive a regular cab. I'm sure it sucks to have Uber and Lyft slashing fares, but it's not fair to expect consumers (who are meant to be enticed to use the service by these same lower fares) to pick up the slack. And to some extent it's what you get when you push for deregulated taxi service, aka ride sharing.

Doesn't surge-based pricing turn the tide back to cabs when major events happen?

Doesn't surge-based pricing turn the tide back to cabs when major events happen?

 

If you're an intelligent rider, then yes.  There are always traditional cabs speculatively circling major events.  Just get ready to argue with the guy and not tip him if he takes you for a circuitous ride. 

 

The whole allure of Uber / Lyft was the ease of use. Take your phone out, request a car, one shows up and bam, transaction completed. This sounds like a pain in the ss[/member]. Confusing and misleading pricing, surly drivers who feel like they deserve more money than what they contracted for. And now I have to figure out where they're coming from and figure that into the tip calculus? Meh. I'll pass on the whole thing. At least when I get in a cab I know I'm getting a surly driver who probably doesn't know where he's going and who is going to try and stick it to me by taking the 'scenic' route.

 

More competition for fares equals lower fares. That's good for me. If it doesn't make sense for the drivers, I understand. Don't drive me. Enough drivers revolt, and Uber / Lyft will change their policies, and make it easier for the passengers to tip (and make it part of the process....which of course then reduces the benefit of using ride sharing over taxis, but there you have it).

 

And if Uber / Lyft drivers unionize, they might as well have to get medallions and be regulated. The whole premise behind ride sharing was to sop up some excess capacity (an unused backseat) during downtimes. Hey, I've got a car, and I'm not really driving anywhere right now, why not pick up someone and grab a quick fare. I don't think it was meant to generate a six figure salary.

The thing that I really love about Uber is that you can see where the car is and it tells you approximately when it will be there.  You might as well get comfortable if you call a cab company for a pickup because you never know when they'll get there.

 

If I'm downtown I'll just find a taxi stand and grab a car, but to get downtown from my house Uber is much, much more convenient.  It really has nothing to do with the payment system for me.

The whole allure of Uber / Lyft was the ease of use. Take your phone out, request a car, one shows up and bam, transaction completed. This sounds like a pain in the ss[/member]. Confusing and misleading pricing, surly drivers who feel like they deserve more money than what they contracted for. And now I have to figure out where they're coming from and figure that into the tip calculus? Meh. I'll pass on the whole thing. At least when I get in a cab I know I'm getting a surly driver who probably doesn't know where he's going and who is going to try and stick it to me by taking the 'scenic' route.

 

This basically sums up my opinion nicely. The whole point was ease. If it's not easy to use and it's expected to go completely against their entire marketing strategy, why even bother?

And I'm a bit surprised that people don't recognize how significant the 10% fare cut is to drivers.  A 10% cut in revenue doesn't mean a driver is "making" 10% less, it means they're actually making much less, somewhere between 20-40% less since their operating costs have remained constant.  The drivers are caught in a trap in any case where they quit their previous job to drive for Uber / Lyft back in the good 'ol days (6 months ago) when they were making a good haul.  Some drivers even went out and bought nicer cars and now they're just running in a hamster wheel for the benefit of ownership and early investors -- and apparently a high percentage of the clientele who don't give a damn about the fairness of what's going on.

 

 

Have insurance prices also gone down?  Oil changes?  Tires?  Preventative maintenance and incidental repairs?  Car washes?  Interest on auto loans?  Vehicle depreciation? 

Have insurance prices also gone down?  Oil changes?  Tires?  Preventative maintenance and incidental repairs?  Car washes?  Interest on auto loans?  Vehicle depreciation?

 

Uber rates didn't go down 50%

Have insurance prices also gone down?  Oil changes?  Tires?  Preventative maintenance and incidental repairs?  Car washes?  Interest on auto loans?  Vehicle depreciation?

 

Uber rates didn't go down 50%

 

Who said they did?  Rates went down 10% just before Halloween.  If you have actually ever done math you'd understand why a 10% drop in revenue is so devastating. 

 

The whole allure of Uber / Lyft was the ease of use. Take your phone out, request a car, one shows up and bam, transaction completed. This sounds like a pain in the ss[/member]. Confusing and misleading pricing, surly drivers who feel like they deserve more money than what they contracted for. And now I have to figure out where they're coming from and figure that into the tip calculus? Meh. I'll pass on the whole thing. At least when I get in a cab I know I'm getting a surly driver who probably doesn't know where he's going and who is going to try and stick it to me by taking the 'scenic' route.

 

This basically sums up my opinion nicely. The whole point was ease. If it's not easy to use and it's expected to go completely against their entire marketing strategy, why even bother?

 

Exactly.  There are other forms as well, like Taxi Magic, which actually make using a Taxi much easier by taking the guessing out of when the taxi is actually going to show.

 

Or, as they have done in markets like Toronto--maybe a taxi and option via Uber.    This allows taxi drivers to compete directly with Uber since the service is the same, and theirs is the lowest rate tier.  I used it there and the meter fare is what comes back through your Uber charge. 

Have insurance prices also gone down?  Oil changes?  Tires?  Preventative maintenance and incidental repairs?  Car washes?  Interest on auto loans?  Vehicle depreciation?

 

Uber rates didn't go down 50%

 

Who said they did?  Rates went down 10% just before Halloween.  If you have actually ever done math you'd understand why a 10% drop in revenue is so devastating. 

 

Does a 25% drop in gas prices equate to a 10% drop in driver costs? I don't know the answer, but it doesn't sound unreasonable.

 

And insurance, auto loans, and several other costs are fixed and don't change whether you are driving for Uber/Lyft or not. You were paying those costs before you started driving for Uber, so it shouldn't be taken into consideration when discussing Uber rates and driver compensation. If you had to buy a new vehicle (like cab drivers do, or ice cream truck drivers do, etc) that you wouldn't have otherwise purchased if it weren't for this job, then those costs are applicable and should be considered when analyzing the Uber rates.

Have insurance prices also gone down?  Oil changes?  Tires?  Preventative maintenance and incidental repairs?  Car washes?  Interest on auto loans?  Vehicle depreciation?

 

Uber rates didn't go down 50%

 

Who said they did?  Rates went down 10% just before Halloween.  If you have actually ever done math you'd understand why a 10% drop in revenue is so devastating. 

 

Does a 25% drop in gas prices equate to a 10% drop in driver costs? I don't know the answer, but it doesn't sound unreasonable.

 

And insurance, auto loans, and several other costs are fixed and don't change whether you are driving for Uber/Lyft or not. You were paying those costs before you started driving for Uber, so it shouldn't be taken into consideration when discussing Uber rates and driver compensation. If you had to buy a new vehicle (like cab drivers do, or ice cream truck drivers do, etc) that you wouldn't have otherwise purchased if it weren't for this job, then those costs are applicable and should be considered when analyzing the Uber rates.

 

I don't know either, it depends on the type of vehicle.  Some people are driving SUV's and I know of one person driving a king cab pickup, none of which get stellar gas mileage.  And many people upgraded to nicer vehicles right when Uber or Lyft came to their respective cities, since they were making much more money in 2013 and early 2014.  Full-time drivers are easily surpassing 1,000 miles driven per week and all that driving increases the risk of damage to the exterior or interior of the car. 

 

It's also important to note that Uber/Lyft are taking advantage of people who do not understand how 1099 payment works and so do not know that they are facing a huge tax bill in January and might even get fined if they're making too much money without sending quarterly payments to the IRS in 2014 ahead of their filing.  What's more, for those who start driving halfway through a year, it's unlikely that they'll drive enough miles to deduct a significant number of miles from their taxable income.  Few pizza deliverymen drive enough miles for the deduction of their mileage to exceed their personal exemption.  Similarly, part-time Uber / Lyft drivers will not drive enough to take that deduction either. 

 

Someone driving full-time and racking up 40,000-50,000 miles annually would be able to take that deduction and it would represent a very significant reduction in their federal taxes.  However keep in mind that this job has no benefits and so subtracting health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, 15% for retirement savings, and at least $5,000 in depreciation on their vehicle and there isn't much left. 

 

I do think that it's possible to collect a gross income of $1,500/wk if you drove 7 days a week (about 60 hours) in Cincinnati,  however I think it would be very difficult to net $1,000/wk even driving those extreme hours.  I have mulled the idea of taking a week off of work and seeing how much I could make driving 80 hours in 7 days for Uber and Lyft for the purposes of writing an article that would debunk their ridiculous claims.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

C'mon guys, does anyone here still not know that we don't allow swearing on UO? 

What are you talking about?  I don't do it full-time, I have no plans to do it full-time other than as a stunt, and anyone who does work 40 hours in any capacity should earn a living wage with full health and retirement benefits.  It's pretty disturbing that people from privileged backgrounds are cheering on low pay for people in the service industry. 

 

What's more, I'll argue again that the technology Uber and Lyft are using should be used by municipalities to create a public service that serves as public transportation in its own right and is fully integrated with existing bus and rail services, where applicable.  Huge improvements in carpooling, vanpooling, and links to suburban jobs can be made with this technology.  Drivers can be paid a professional wage and the public can be spared peak-hour price gouging.  Plus, publicly-owned cabs could use cab stands and temporary pickup points at big events.  Right now picking up passengers at large events is total chaos. 

Assumptions about others' backgrounds aren't ever a good idea. I've worked in the service industry as well and know that it can really suck. That's not my reasoning. My reasoning is that just because you do something for 40 hours a week doesn't make it a job.

 

My response to you was a direct response to your post above mine speaking about full-time drivers. You mentioned people driving full-time and therefore I responded to that.

Assumptions about others' backgrounds aren't ever a good idea. I've worked in the service industry as well and know that it can really suck. That's not my reasoning. My reasoning is that just because you do something for 40 hours a week doesn't make it a job.

 

My response to you was a direct response to your post above mine speaking about full-time drivers. You mentioned people driving full-time and therefore I responded to that.

 

Then don't make assumptions about Lyft/Uber drivers.  I've talked to more than a few who do use it as a full time job.  Granted I live in the 2nd largest taxi market in the United States, but its definitely something people are using as a full time job.

 

Jake's experiment is interesting because as I understand it Taxi companies have fees to make earing a full time living for drivers challenging - I'm wondering if its easier for Uber/Lyft Drivers... (though with Obama's election supervisor in charge of PR for Uber I do wonder if its true - not a slight at Obama but a nod to just how incredibly effective David Plouffe was at selling Obama as something he really wasn't)

...could you point me in the direction of any assumptions I made?

 

All I stated was that it was never and will never be designed as something intended to be used as a full-time job. If you want to try to make it as such, go for it, but it was always meant to be a ride-sharing program. That's what it is. It's not a taxi service. It's a ride sharing program. There is a key difference that some people here seem to be missing. The fee structure and payment system were never set up and intended to be able to provide someone with a full income. It was always set up to provide someone with supplemental income when  they had extra time to provide someone with a ride.

First Lyft driver to reach 10,000 rides:

 

http://blog.lyft.com/posts/2014/11/10/congrats-stephen-10000-rides-and-rolling-strong

 

The amount that drivers are being paid is much different from city to city.  For example the minimum Lyft fare in San Francisco is $10 whereas it is $4 in Cincinnati and $3 in Chicago, and the per-mile rate is different.  Cincinnati's per-mile rate is slightly higher than Chicago, for example.  San Francisco also has a ton of wealthy people who probably tip well, so that makes a big difference. 

 

Is cab service critical to the functionality of any modern city?  Yes.  That's why drivers should be paid a professional wage with health, retirement, and vacation benefit, just like bus drivers, salt truck drivers, sanitation workers, etc.  Because a job is part-time does not mean that the labor is any less important for ownership to realize profits.  That's why the minimum wage exemption that exists for seasonal workers in Ohio is total B.S. -- teenagers who work 80 hours a week at King's Island are not paid overtime. 

 

But it's not a cab service. That's where I think the difference of opinions is coming from. It's not supposed to be a cab service. It's supposed to be a ride share service. And those two things, though similar in a lot of aspects are not one in the same. A lot of people might be trying to make a ride share program into a cab service by driving full-time, but that's never been the intention.

But it's not a cab service. That's where I think the difference of opinions is coming from. It's not supposed to be a cab service. It's supposed to be a ride share service. And those two things, though similar in a lot of aspects are not one in the same. A lot of people might be trying to make a ride share program into a cab service by driving full-time, but that's never been the intention.

 

Yes it has been the intention.  For example Lyft has a "power driver" promotion which is aimed to encourage people to drive 30+ hours per week.  If you drive 30 hours per week, including 10 "peak hour" hours, then you get a 10% bonus at the end of the week.  It's pretty tough to achieve this because they shuffle around when the "peak hours" are from week-to-week so you need to have a pretty free schedule in order to adapt to however they shuffled things around for a particular week.

 

Here is an example of the sort of social media marketing Lyft is doing, which I find pretty obnoxious:

 

As if Taylor Swift is a)someone I should care about or b)actually rides Lyft.  In fact Taylor Swift owns a private jet.  I know because my brother's friend has ridden on it with Taylor Swift's probably equally boring brother. 

Uber showing once again what an absolutely abhorent company it is. Rotten from the top.

 

http://recode.net/2014/11/18/sarah-lacy-on-ubers-plan-to-smear-her-every-woman-using-uber-should-be-scared/

It's because Uber's top guys are all frat guys, a few of them from Miami of Ohio.  I'm sure that they're totally full of themselves. 

 

At some point a driver is going to rape a drunk female passenger.  A partial solution is to force Uber drivers to put cameras in their cars that record audio as well as a view of the interior of the car.  The passenger could verify that the camera is running through the app.  The technology will be there pretty soon to where you could see yourself on your phone through a camera in the car. 

 

There's nothing wrong with trying to rebuff your critics, even with "dirty" tactics, because it happens all the time; where they messed up is bragging about it. I think that is what's more telling about their leadership - they can't serve their revenge quietly and subtly, they have to take credit for it. Who you should really fear are the people who do the same, but do it quietly - though they typically get into politics, not business.

There is a broader issue here, bigger than Uber and misogyny. Companies amassing huge collections of data on people could make use of that data to silence critics and threaten free speech.

 

She said she thinks Uber’s campaign to silence reporters will only grow because — despite the current outcry — reporters will now think twice before crossing the company, which knows their credit card information, home address, phone number and travel patterns.

 

“First, they’re going after really harsh critics. Then, they’re going after people who don’t reprint the press release right,” she said. “If Uber proves this is a very good use of $1 million, then they’ll keep going.”

She works for an industry that coined the phrase, "Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel." Smear campaigns and agendas have been a staple of the news media for generations. The fact that she's so indignant that a private corporation would investigate her (the nerve!) is comical.

 

The article barely touched on what she wrote that made her a target in the first place, and what Uber actually did in this smear campaign. Other than alleging the Uber's CEO copped to it at a dinner. From the article:

 

Honestly every woman using Uber should be scared. Every journalist should be scared."

 

Give me a break.

Here is an example of the sort of social media marketing Lyft is doing, which I find pretty obnoxious:

 

 

As if Taylor Swift is a)someone I should care about or b)actually rides Lyft.  In fact Taylor Swift owns a private jet.  I know because my brother's friend has ridden on it with Taylor Swift's probably equally boring brother. 

 

Don't be so surprised--she spends a lot of time in NYC.  I could see her grabbing a Lift or Uber.

Here is an example of the sort of social media marketing Lyft is doing, which I find pretty obnoxious:

 

 

As if Taylor Swift is a)someone I should care about or b)actually rides Lyft.  In fact Taylor Swift owns a private jet.  I know because my brother's friend has ridden on it with Taylor Swift's probably equally boring brother. 

 

Don't be so surprised--she spends a lot of time in NYC.  I could see her grabbing a Lift or Uber.

 

Not after's Uber's deal with Spotify!

Here is an example of the sort of social media marketing Lyft is doing, which I find pretty obnoxious:

 

 

As if Taylor Swift is a)someone I should care about or b)actually rides Lyft.  In fact Taylor Swift owns a private jet.  I know because my brother's friend has ridden on it with Taylor Swift's probably equally boring brother. 

 

Don't be so surprised--she spends a lot of time in NYC.  I could see her grabbing a Lift or Uber.

 

Not after's Uber's deal with Spotify!

 

She may not call for a ride.  She may call for a flu shot:

 

http://blog.uber.com/healthchicago

Oops: http://mashable.com/2014/11/17/uber-executive-revenge/ and http://mashable.com/2014/11/18/uber-is-its-own-worst-enemy/

No doubt that Uber can use its own data against people it seeks to damage.  When you drive people around it's pretty obvious that certain people are cheating and/or working as escorts.  Uber doesn't even need to make this stuff public, it can just mess with family, friends, and coworkers. 

^ I think it goes without saying that if you're into something shady, take a cab, tip well, and turn off your cell phone.

What Was Said at the Uber Dinner

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-campbell/what-was-said-at-the-uber_b_6198250.html

 

---

 

If you believe this, it seems this whole story was completely overblown.

I drove for Monday Night Football and some weird stuff happened. 

 

First of all a girl from 1124 Main named Rachel left a bottle of wine in my car.  If anyone knows her let me know, I still have it.  She called me back about a minute after I dropped her off, and I drove back to where I dropped her off, but then Lyft's scrambled phone number stopped working.  I waited around for about five minutes but she never came outside, and I didn't know which unit they were in.  So I took off when I got a ride request.  This incident illustrates the big problem with Uber and Lyft's scrambled phone numbers -- returning lost stuff is a huge pain.  Later another girl left a mitten in the car. 

 

The second thing that happened last night was Uber's program got stuck in a ride.  I drove all the way home just to email Uber about the problem with the phone.  For hours it was stuck in a ride and would not end it.  So I just left the Uber phone at home and headed back out driving just for Lyft.

 

During the 4th quarter, with the rain coming down hard, I get a request next to Paul Brown Stadium.  Guy tells me where he is, I go there, and he's not there.  About a minute later a group comes running up and gets in the car.  I assumed that these were the correct people and drove them all the way to Hyde Park before realizing that not only were they the wrong people, they had requested Uber, not Lyft.  So I had to cancel the ride and got paid nothing.  Meanwhile the original guy was locked out of being able to do another ride request.  I didn't realize that my phone was blowing up with threatening text messages from the original guy who was still standing there in the rain somewhere near Paul Brown Stadium.

 

This is the great dilemma with Bengals games -- people are seemingly completely incapable of describing where they are in relation to the stadium.  I've cancelled on people in the past because I've spent 20 minutes inching through traffic to get to them and then they aren't even there. 

 

 

 

 

I saw that and suggested it to my parents who hate the traffic jams there - I hope more deals like this are cut.

Everyone should be aware that surge pricing is going to be out-of-control on New Year's Even and through about 10am on New Year's Day.  I'm going to start driving at 6pm and will go until sunrise and will hopefully gross well over $500 (on a normal weekend night I typically gross $200-250). 

 

In Cincinnati Lyft will be increasing its Prime Time rates to 400%, which is the same as Uber's 5X.  When the surge pricing is at 5X a ride from DT Cincinnati to Oakley flirts with $100 and there will be many, many trips longer than that.  There will be more than a few suckers who blow $300+ on Uber and Lyft rides tomorrow night. 

 

Last Friday night I had a couple get in the car in Mt. Adams during 4.6X surge pricing headed to the Indiana border.  I was licking my chops at the chance to make $200 on a single ride, but while coasting down St. Gregory St. they saw two people they knew.  Those people got in the car and they decided as a group to go to another house in Mt. Airy.  So the fare ended up being $85 instead of $185. 

 

The thing about surge pricing under ordinary circumstances is that you have to get really lucky as a driver to take full advantage of it -- in other words take passengers on a lengthy trip during the 5X surge.  Obviously even a short drive at the 5X surge is $25, but on New Year's there will be the opportunity to take ten or more trips at the highest surge level, meaning at least two or three of them will be $100~ rides.   

Everyone should be aware that surge pricing is going to be out-of-control on New Year's Even and through about 10am on New Year's Day.  I'm going to start driving at 6pm and will go until sunrise and will hopefully gross well over $500 (on a normal weekend night I typically gross $200-250). 

 

In Cincinnati Lyft will be increasing its Prime Time rates to 400%, which is the same as Uber's 5X.  When the surge pricing is at 5X a ride from DT Cincinnati to Oakley flirts with $100 and there will be many, many trips longer than that.  There will be more than a few suckers who blow $300+ on Uber and Lyft rides tomorrow night. 

 

Last Friday night I had a couple get in the car in Mt. Adams during 4.6X surge pricing headed to the Indiana border.  I was licking my chops at the chance to make $200 on a single ride, but while coasting down St. Gregory St. they saw two people they knew.  Those people got in the car and they decided as a group to go to another house in Mt. Airy.  So the fare ended up being $85 instead of $185. 

 

The thing about surge pricing under ordinary circumstances is that you have to get really lucky as a driver to take full advantage of it -- in other words take passengers on a lengthy trip during the 5X surge.  Obviously even a short drive at the 5X surge is $25, but on New Year's there will be the opportunity to take ten or more trips at the highest surge level, meaning at least two or three of them will be $100~ rides.   

 

All still cheaper than a DUI.....and more reliable than any taxi (at least from where I sit in Cleveland).

In case anyone's wondering I made $400 on the dot after Uber/Lyft fees but before tax, then $60 in cash tips, so effectively about $30/hr for 11 hours after tax and gasoline. 

Not bad as a side gig. Any interesting stories?

 

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that gives Uber/Lyft drivers cash. I've never actually signed up for either service, but I've been along for rides when other friends have used these apps and I always give an extra cash tip. Hopefully Uber/Lyft aren't going to somehow find a way to screw drivers based on this behavior from riders.

There's a boatload of whining still going around online about Uber surge pricing. I've used Uber/Lyft exactly once (a free first ride when I signed up) yet I'm still fully aware of surge pricing. I can't figure out how people have the capacity to get online and complain on social media, but somehow don't know surge pricing exists, and missed the fact that they were told about it when arranging a ride.

I went out last night for the OSU game and used Uber for the first time based on positive feedback from friends I was with last night. What an awesome service! I put in my request and four minutes later,  the driver showed up. He was such an upbeat, pleasant dude that threw him an extra $20 on top of my $17 ride.

There's a boatload of whining still going around online about Uber surge pricing. I've used Uber/Lyft exactly once (a free first ride when I signed up) yet I'm still fully aware of surge pricing. I can't figure out how people have the capacity to get online and complain on social media, but somehow don't know surge pricing exists, and missed the fact that they were told about it when arranging a ride.

 

Yeah the surge pricing prompt couldn't be more obvious.  If Uber or Lyft were trying to scam people, they'd be hit with a class action lawsuit immediately.  The issue is that most surge pricing happens during the hours when people are drunk.  A mildly organized person doesn't make these kinds of mistakes when drinking a mild amount.  But when you drive people around you are driving around all kinds of people who you would never socialize with because they are so scatter-brained, obnoxious, and just plain stupid. 

 

On New Year's I drove some guy around Covington around 11:30pm looking for his car because his ticket to the event at the Madison Theater was in his car (why not in your wallet, dumbass?!).  After about 10 minutes of coasting around he realized his car was actually...in Clifton.  That's an example of the sort of total dumbass who agrees to 5X surge pricing. 

 

 

$900 Uber ride:

http://www.kctv5.com/story/27763728/ole-miss-fan-passes-out-spends-over-900-on-uber-ride

I heard Lyft is pulling out of Columbus for a bit in two weeks.

I heard Lyft is pulling out of Columbus for a bit in two weeks.

 

Not just Columbus.  According to reporting at http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/01/06/Lyft-pauses-operations-in-Columbus.html:

 

"Lyft has halted operations in a handful of other cities that have passed regulations on app-based car services.  According to media reports, those cities include Houston, Rochester, N.Y., and Tacoma, Wash. ... Uber does not plan to leave Columbus, its operations base in the state, said James Ondrey, the company’s general manager in Ohio."

NYC cab drivers earned an extra $5.2 million in tips in 2013 simply because the software presents three buttons to the rider, to leave a 20%, 25%, or 30% tip. People can enter in a different amount but most don't bother. 20% is the most common tip by far. It's not directly related to Uber or Lyft, but I think it's relevant because it shows how important software (and what defaults it gives to the user) can be.

NYC cab drivers earned an extra $5.2 million in tips in 2013 simply because the software presents three buttons to the rider, to leave a 20%, 25%, or 30% tip. People can enter in a different amount but most don't bother. 20% is the most common tip by far. It's not directly related to Uber or Lyft, but I think it's relevant because it shows how important software (and what defaults it gives to the user) can be.

 

Sure--this is just like those table side credit card EPOS machines that restaurants in the rest of the civilized world use with tip buttons.  For some reason in the USA we still allow our servers to disappear with our credit cards in some back room and have to manually enter the tip amount when they return....  (GRRRRRR!)