Nice feedback on my blog post, y'all. Thanks. Estimating exactly how much a driver receives from Lyft, versus that driver's expenses, is really difficult. So I took some shortcuts with easily searchable published data and ended up with just $3.45/hour. In a G+ discussion it came up that if you could externalize most ownership expenses (e.g. driving your dad's car), it would be reasonable to get up to $17/hour with all my other estimates being the same.
In a best-case scenario you'd be picking up someone whose destination is where you were already headed, in which case your 80% of the payment would be pure profit. If you drove that person for a full hour, to a place where you were already headed, and they paid you $43.75, then you really would get that $35/hour that Lyft advertises for drivers.
In the end, these estimates are hard. Lyft themselves probably have real good data on the matter. Maybe they'll give us some real numbers, and show us how they can be cheaper than cabs while simultaneously (if their advertising for drivers is to be believed) paying their drivers a lot more than typical cabbies.
> how they can be cheaper than cabs while simultaneously (if their advertising for drivers is to be believed) paying their drivers a lot more than typical cabbies.
In a best-case scenario you'd be picking up someone whose destination is where you were already headed, in which case your 80% of the payment would be pure profit. If you drove that person for a full hour, to a place where you were already headed, and they paid you $43.75, then you really would get that $35/hour that Lyft advertises for drivers.
In the end, these estimates are hard. Lyft themselves probably have real good data on the matter. Maybe they'll give us some real numbers, and show us how they can be cheaper than cabs while simultaneously (if their advertising for drivers is to be believed) paying their drivers a lot more than typical cabbies.