Is Uber The AMC Model ? Mit Study Says Uber Drivers Make Less Than Min. Wage

[Elliott]

"According to analysis by experts at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR), Uber and Lyft drivers make a median profit of $8.55 an hour before taxes, once insurance, maintenance, repairs, and other costs are factored in. That means 54 percent of drivers earn less than their state’s minimum wage and nearly one in 10 actually lose money on the job.

“Right now, travel on Uber and Lyft is currently subsidized by venture capital money, and it’s subsidized by the drivers that are working for less wages than they expect, and it’s being subsidized by a legit tax deduction,” Stephen M. Zoepf, the paper’s lead author, told ArsTechnica. “Who is benefiting? The passengers are benefiting”

A first draft of MIT’s research earlier this month mistakenly set Uber and Lyft drivers’ median profit at $3.37, but that number was heavily criticized by both Uber executives and economists as “deeply flawed.” As a result, the figure was revised up by Zoepf, and he promised a “thorough revision” of the paper. The new analysis was released on Monday and included the median $8.55 per hour figure."

 

[Rlong]

Yes, everything is becoming Uber!

Bob!

 

[hastalavista]

It might be a good comparison (AMC/Uber vs. Independent Appraiser/Taxi Driver).

I think some of the data would need to be filtered. I don't know that much about the Uber model, but I think part time is a large percentage.
A comparison could be: Average full time taxi driver income vs. Average full time Uber driver. I'd want to compare the same locations.

One (or at least I) would think taxi drivers make more as tipping is typical for the cabbies.

But both models provide the same service to the same customer, and the customer's expectation from both providers is more or less the same: So there is a parallel with the AMC vs. direct-engagement of an appraiser.
Uber is perceived to be cheaper on the consumer side. The experience (riding from point A to point B) is the same. Unless I'm at a taxi stand, I can get Uber (or Lyft) faster than calling for a cab. I've had a lot of rude cabbies. I haven't taken the same number of rides in Uber, but I've yet to have a rude Uber driver.

It woujld be an interesting study to see if there are real similarities.

 

[Amy Perkins]

We are so close to having everything robotified. Uber is transitional.

 

[J Grant]

They have almost nothing in common, (unless it is low pay lol )

UBER connects a vast # of customers ( passengers ) needing a low skill service, drive from point A to point B, with a vast # of low skill set folks who drive them from point A to point B. All you need is clean driver license and sign up tomorrow drive for UBER . Business model is the customer pays for the ride, but a bit less than for a taxi, nicer car, using an app is convenient.

AMC takes a small set of outlet of high skill work for a limited group of high skill set, hard to get licensed profession ( appraisers) and acts as a middleman, a broker of services, with the "customer " aka lender client pays NO COST to them the service , a consumer paid for it. and consumer paid full retail rate, while lender disperses payment to AMC, the lender essentially got it at no cost AMC is more like a wholesaler, skimming a fee off the professionals by acting as gate keepers to the work.

 

[J Grant]

UBER was able to cut into the taxi business because the Taxi license ( medallion ) was very expensive to get ( hundreds of thousands of dollars), but taxi drivers themselves low skilled , anyone who can drive a car can drive a taxi. UBER recognized that therefore, anybody can drive for UBER , cut out the medallion and call it a ride sharing service. Anyone can drive for UBER, sign up with a clean driving record, install the app, go.

Appraisers still need to be licensed and it is a relatively specialized skill set. The appraisal license itself is relatively cheap to get in $, a big investment in time and training. A taxi medallion is more like a liquor license, very expensive to get but represents a low skill service- nearly anyone can pour liquor into a glass and nearly anyone can drive a car. Appraiser licenses are for the professional person,themselves.

 

[Meandering]

"According to analysis by experts at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR), Uber and Lyft drivers make a median profit of $8.55 an hour before taxes, once insurance, maintenance, repairs, and other costs are factored in. That means 54 percent of drivers earn less than their state’s minimum wage and nearly one in 10 actually lose money on the job.

Do you wonder about the cost of this study and who paid for it?

Uber drivers pay self employment tax that is used in part to fund these types of studies and universities.

Can you say that the working self-employeed-poor provide job security to these scientists?

..

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I think part time is a large percentage.

Go dual Uber & Google Streets photography...driverless

 

[Michael S]

UBER was able to cut into the taxi business because the Taxi license ( medallion ) was very expensive to get ( hundreds of thousands of dollars), but taxi drivers themselves low skilled , anyone who can drive a car can drive a taxi. UBER recognized that therefore, anybody can drive for UBER , cut out the medallion and call it a ride sharing service. Anyone can drive for UBER, sign up with a clean driving record, install the app, go.

Appraisers still need to be licensed and it is a relatively specialized skill set. The appraisal license itself is relatively cheap to get in $, a big investment in time and training. A taxi medallion is more like a liquor license, very expensive to get but represents a low skill service- nearly anyone can pour liquor into a glass and nearly anyone can drive a car. Appraiser licenses are for the professional person,themselves.

Taxi medallions peaked at around $1,000,000 in NYC but elsewhere I think they are far cheaper. The real cost differential is due to the artificial supply restrictions imposed by local governments and the operating standards imposed on the taxi drivers.

I believe taxi medallions prices have since cratered since why would you borrow a million dollars to get a job where you'd be lucky to make six-figures in a very HCOL area. Especially now that Uber has removed that huge barrier to entry.

 

[J Grant]

http://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-taxi-king-foreclosed-medallions-scooped-up-by-hedge-fund-2017-9

Taxi medallions in NY - sale price $186,000 avg in this auction A far cry from their former value, but still a big investment compared to an appraisal license. Uber did a work around taxi laws by calling it a ride sharing service, allowing a potentially unlimited # of people who posses a common, low skill ( able to drive ) with a potentially unlimited # of people who can use the service. It is very different from appraisal where the license is relatively cheap ( a few hundred dollars ) but a big investment in time /effort to get, producing a limited number of professionals that due to the nature of the business, serve a relatively small number of clients.