At the beginning of every year, I send out a detailed survey to rideshare drivers across the country in order to get their take on the driving experience and see what’s changed since the year prior. This year’s survey was sent out on 1/25/18 and we collected nearly 1,200 responses from drivers on our email list and through social media.
Uber had a tumultuous 2017, but if you weren’t following the news cycle, you may not have even noticed since all that bad press did not have a negative impact on the actual day to day operations. Uber ended the year doing more rides than ever and drivers were actually more satisfied at the end of 2017 than they were compared to the year prior.
Lyft still had higher overall satisfaction and pay among their drivers compared to Uber, but the gap is narrowing. A majority of Uber drivers were satisfied with Uber’s 180 Days of Change campaign, which included new features like a tipping option and a 24/7 phone support line for drivers. Lyft made some small improvements to the driving experience in 2017, but they did not have a substantial driver-focused campaign like Uber did.
Pay and flexibility were still at the top of the list when it comes to why workers are flocking to rideshare driving, but drivers feel strongly that they are underpaid. In fact, they reported that they would like to make around 51.6% more than what they currently are earning.
Among topical issues in the news, drivers feel strongly that they should remain independent contractors and a majority are also for more stringent fingerprint based background checks – Uber and Lyft are staunchly opposed to fingerprint based background checks.
