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> They can’t afford to pickup people at Reagan for $4 in rush hour traffic. Are they really getting paid $4 to give someone a ride? That seems so low that dri

> They can’t afford to pickup people at Reagan for $4 in rush hour traffic. Are they really getting paid $4 to give someone a ride? That seems so low that drivers would be incentivized to find another job.

mikeash 7y ago
I think that’s the airport pickup fee that gets added on top of the standard time/mileage fare.
Waterluvian 7y ago
I'm not sure if the number is accurate but I do know how amazingly stubborn humans can be in finding a new job. I've had people refuse to quit a job that they groan about every day when I've offered them almost double the salary to work elsewhere with far better terms. Humans are risk averse and those who live paycheck to paycheck are especially so. It defies logic until you consider that their fear of the unknown + small chance they end up with no job has a massive adjustment weight applied to it in their minds.
- mruts 7y ago
  Maybe that’s all true, but it doesn’t really make sense for Uber/Lyft. They could go back to their job driving whenever they wanted.
  - Waterluvian 7y ago
    You're applying a healthy dose of rationalism to this. I don't have the answer but I think there's a possibility that you can't expect rationalism when you're asking people to walk away from the major pattern in their life which puts food in their kids mouths.
- iamtheworstdev 7y ago
  It has a massive cost if it doesn't work out too. We're talking about an income bracket that could miss, say, one credit card payment minimum then due to a raise in the minimum for missing, probably miss the next. Situations like this are posted on reddit.com/r/personalfinance all of the time. It's the same reason municipalities are dropping jail time for unpaid fines, etc, as hourly workers that miss one day of work unexpectedly are often fired and then end up in even more financial misfortune.
- asdff 7y ago
  I've never met a lyft/uber driver who did it full time. Most of the people doing it need the work but can't manage committing to adding a full third shift to their life on top of their other job because they have kids/a dependent/class or just got laid off and are trying to stretch their savings while looking for work, and need the flexibility.

mikeash 7y ago

I think that’s the airport pickup fee that gets added on top of the standard time/mileage fare.

Waterluvian 7y ago

I'm not sure if the number is accurate but I do know how amazingly stubborn humans can be in finding a new job. I've had people refuse to quit a job that they groan about every day when I've offered them almost double the salary to work elsewhere with far better terms. Humans are risk averse and those who live paycheck to paycheck are especially so. It defies logic until you consider that their fear of the unknown + small chance they end up with no job has a massive adjustment weight applied to it in their minds.

mruts 7y ago
Maybe that’s all true, but it doesn’t really make sense for Uber/Lyft. They could go back to their job driving whenever they wanted.
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  You're applying a healthy dose of rationalism to this. I don't have the answer but I think there's a possibility that you can't expect rationalism when you're asking people to walk away from the major pattern in their life which puts food in their kids mouths.
iamtheworstdev 7y ago
It has a massive cost if it doesn't work out too. We're talking about an income bracket that could miss, say, one credit card payment minimum then due to a raise in the minimum for missing, probably miss the next. Situations like this are posted on reddit.com/r/personalfinance all of the time. It's the same reason municipalities are dropping jail time for unpaid fines, etc, as hourly workers that miss one day of work unexpectedly are often fired and then end up in even more financial misfortune.
asdff 7y ago
I've never met a lyft/uber driver who did it full time. Most of the people doing it need the work but can't manage committing to adding a full third shift to their life on top of their other job because they have kids/a dependent/class or just got laid off and are trying to stretch their savings while looking for work, and need the flexibility.