Earlier this week, as we were leaving the office, I wished my colleague Robert a great evening and he said, "Yep, hopefully I'll get a few good rides". And its only then that I realized that he drove for Uber.
Uber is one of those amazing phenomenon's where most people either love it or hate it. But cannot ignore it.
I had read and viewed several articles on Uber and the mathematics of driving for Uber always fascinated me.
Here's a video that does an excellent job of breaking it down.
Why Uber Is A Scam - Math Explains
I asked Robert about his Uber experience as a driver. His math was a little different. He thinks he makes around $ 15 - $ 20 per hour. And it gives him the flexibility of working when he can as well as whenever he feels like it.
I reviewed the numbers with Robert and for the large part, they were accurate. A large part of his earnings came from being smart about where to wait during certain hours and manage to get surge pricing. Outside bars around midnight and at 2 is almost guaranteed to get surge pricing. This could be as much as 2x and sometime even 3x. And in the last few months, Uber allows its drivers to take tips. This increases the earning even more. Of course he did not take into account depreciation, taxes and maintenance. He also calculated hourly based on how long he was driving and excluded the waiting. All of this gave a skewed hourly rate. My guess is the real earning would be around $12 - $14 per hour.
So it seems like the truth about Uber is neither what SciIQ portrays or what Robert thinks. Its somewhere in the middle. And given that, my guess is it'll keep getting better for the drivers, as the passengers willingness to pay a little more will keep rising as they continue getting used to the luxury of having their own private driver with a tap on their smart phone.
Uber is one of those amazing phenomenon's where most people either love it or hate it. But cannot ignore it.
I had read and viewed several articles on Uber and the mathematics of driving for Uber always fascinated me.
Here's a video that does an excellent job of breaking it down.
Why Uber Is A Scam - Math Explains
I asked Robert about his Uber experience as a driver. His math was a little different. He thinks he makes around $ 15 - $ 20 per hour. And it gives him the flexibility of working when he can as well as whenever he feels like it.
I reviewed the numbers with Robert and for the large part, they were accurate. A large part of his earnings came from being smart about where to wait during certain hours and manage to get surge pricing. Outside bars around midnight and at 2 is almost guaranteed to get surge pricing. This could be as much as 2x and sometime even 3x. And in the last few months, Uber allows its drivers to take tips. This increases the earning even more. Of course he did not take into account depreciation, taxes and maintenance. He also calculated hourly based on how long he was driving and excluded the waiting. All of this gave a skewed hourly rate. My guess is the real earning would be around $12 - $14 per hour.
So it seems like the truth about Uber is neither what SciIQ portrays or what Robert thinks. Its somewhere in the middle. And given that, my guess is it'll keep getting better for the drivers, as the passengers willingness to pay a little more will keep rising as they continue getting used to the luxury of having their own private driver with a tap on their smart phone.
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