7 ms·

Lyft invests $100M in its drivers

49 points by obahareth 8y ago

rectang 8y ago
Lyft is still outsourcing risk to those drivers. Lyft is certainly well aware of how much money it saves by ensuring that when expensive tragedies happen, they are borne by individuals. As to how well the drivers are prepared, well it's going to vary by individual, but it's safe to say that none of them understand the risks they are taking on as well as Lyft does, and in the aggregate most are unprepared, not even having proper rideshare insurance.
- crsv 8y ago
  This was my first thought as well - it seems like a thought out risk mitigation strategy that plays well from a PR perspective. It's a savvy move, and to your point likely escapes the typical drivers awareness. So at what point does regulation get in the mix as Lyft or other ride sharing companies take direct action that signals risk acknowledgement or indemnification?
alex_young 8y ago
1.4M drivers now, they are doubling to 2.8M over 5 years. 100M / 2.8M = $35 each. Or about one oil change.
jdavis703 8y ago
Alternative headline: "Lyft invests $100 million in self-driving car maintenance hubs." By centralizing cleaning and routine maintenance to it's centers Lyft is laying the ground work to provide a place for self-driving vehicles to return to between revenue service.
- cryptoz 8y ago
  Yeah, the article content doesn't hold up the headline. It does not sound one bit like Lyft is investing in its drivers. That would have to mean something a lot more grand than "cheaper oil changes" or better car maintenance. A giant multinational multi-billion dollar corporation is not investing in you if they just help your car get less wrecked. It would mean they are funding post-secondary education. It would mean they are funding your healthcare, or giving you a major raise. I love Lyft, but this headline is a disaster, it's a pure native ad for Lyft and totally doesn't belong on HN.
- cm2012 8y ago
  People keep saying the Lyft and Uber endgame is self driving cars, but there are not going to be fully autonomous self driving cars for at least 10 years. It's not a realistic business plan and I very much doubt that's actually the strategy at these companies.
  - sebleon 8y ago
    Where does the number “10 years” come from? 5 seems plausible to this non-domain expert
    - IshKebab 8y ago
      5 is maybe doable in a limited context, e.g. in residential neighborhoods of American cities. No way for the rest of the world though. The road systems are too complicated.
      - skybrian 8y ago
        Seems like that's plenty enough to be a large and growing business, though?
    - s73v3r_ 8y ago
      Snow.
      - 0xffff2 8y ago
        Not even. We are at least 5-10 years away from operational fully autonomous cars being used in production in the bay area. There's really no timeline at all for when we might have an operational autonomous car that can handle driving conditions more severe than light rain.
    - yawz 8y ago
      10 is optimistic IMHO. The popular 80/20 rule is at work here. It's going to take a lot of time to get the rest 20% right. For example, how long it's going to take to solve the driving on the snowy roads?
jaredhansen 8y ago
The headline could stand alone as a succinct master class in the value of the "relations" part of PR. Imagine Uber getting a headline like this from TC in 2018, assuming it did exactly the same substantive thing.
lalos 8y ago
Interesting the last bit, this will technically subsidize Uber's work. Most of the drivers are on both unless they add a minimum driven hours per week to get this perk.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
martinald 8y ago
This sounds like yet more cost on an unsustainable business model. Just like Uber announced today (iirc) that the are paying a bunch more quasi-benefits to their drivers in the EU.
jnordwick 8y ago
This is no better than a press release. How does this absolute crap make it to the HN front page? Is it hatred of Uber? I don't get why such a fluff piece can get so many upvotes. Even the title "Uber invests in its drivers" sounds like a press release.
leroy_masochist 8y ago
The only item in this that strikes me as "investing in its drivers" is the tax education. Everything else would be better described as cost subsidies intended to incentivize drivers to continue to work for Lyft as independent contractors.

49 points by obahareth 8y ago

Lyft is still outsourcing risk to those drivers. Lyft is certainly well aware of how much money it saves by ensuring that when expensive tragedies happen, they are borne by individuals. As to how well the drivers are prepared, well it's going to vary by individual, but it's safe to say that none of them understand the risks they are taking on as well as Lyft does, and in the aggregate most are unprepared, not even having proper rideshare insurance.

crsv 8y ago
This was my first thought as well - it seems like a thought out risk mitigation strategy that plays well from a PR perspective. It's a savvy move, and to your point likely escapes the typical drivers awareness. So at what point does regulation get in the mix as Lyft or other ride sharing companies take direct action that signals risk acknowledgement or indemnification?

alex_young 8y ago

1.4M drivers now, they are doubling to 2.8M over 5 years. 100M / 2.8M = $35 each. Or about one oil change.

jdavis703 8y ago

Alternative headline: "Lyft invests $100 million in self-driving car maintenance hubs." By centralizing cleaning and routine maintenance to it's centers Lyft is laying the ground work to provide a place for self-driving vehicles to return to between revenue service.

cryptoz 8y ago
Yeah, the article content doesn't hold up the headline. It does not sound one bit like Lyft is investing in its drivers. That would have to mean something a lot more grand than "cheaper oil changes" or better car maintenance. A giant multinational multi-billion dollar corporation is not investing in you if they just help your car get less wrecked. It would mean they are funding post-secondary education. It would mean they are funding your healthcare, or giving you a major raise. I love Lyft, but this headline is a disaster, it's a pure native ad for Lyft and totally doesn't belong on HN.
cm2012 8y ago
People keep saying the Lyft and Uber endgame is self driving cars, but there are not going to be fully autonomous self driving cars for at least 10 years. It's not a realistic business plan and I very much doubt that's actually the strategy at these companies.
- sebleon 8y ago
  Where does the number “10 years” come from? 5 seems plausible to this non-domain expert
  - IshKebab 8y ago
    5 is maybe doable in a limited context, e.g. in residential neighborhoods of American cities. No way for the rest of the world though. The road systems are too complicated.
    - skybrian 8y ago
      Seems like that's plenty enough to be a large and growing business, though?
  - s73v3r_ 8y ago
    Snow.
    - 0xffff2 8y ago
      Not even. We are at least 5-10 years away from operational fully autonomous cars being used in production in the bay area. There's really no timeline at all for when we might have an operational autonomous car that can handle driving conditions more severe than light rain.
  - yawz 8y ago
    10 is optimistic IMHO. The popular 80/20 rule is at work here. It's going to take a lot of time to get the rest 20% right. For example, how long it's going to take to solve the driving on the snowy roads?

jaredhansen 8y ago

The headline could stand alone as a succinct master class in the value of the "relations" part of PR. Imagine Uber getting a headline like this from TC in 2018, assuming it did exactly the same substantive thing.

lalos 8y ago

Interesting the last bit, this will technically subsidize Uber's work. Most of the drivers are on both unless they add a minimum driven hours per week to get this perk.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

martinald 8y ago

This sounds like yet more cost on an unsustainable business model. Just like Uber announced today (iirc) that the are paying a bunch more quasi-benefits to their drivers in the EU.

jnordwick 8y ago

This is no better than a press release. How does this absolute crap make it to the HN front page? Is it hatred of Uber? I don't get why such a fluff piece can get so many upvotes. Even the title "Uber invests in its drivers" sounds like a press release.

leroy_masochist 8y ago

The only item in this that strikes me as "investing in its drivers" is the tax education. Everything else would be better described as cost subsidies intended to incentivize drivers to continue to work for Lyft as independent contractors.