NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City’s cash-strapped Uber and Lyft drivers have been campaigning for bigger paychecks, and their effort got a boost on Monday from a study two economists conducted for the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Drivers for ride-hailing companies, which also include Via and Gett’s Juno, should get a raise to $17.22 an hour after expenses, according to the study by James Parrott of the New School in New York City and Michael Reich at the University of California at Berkeley. The recommended rate amounts to an hourly wage of $15 with an allowance for paid time off.
“Driver pay is low, despite rapid industry growth and high pricing mark-ups, because companies depend upon having a large ready pool of available drivers,” Parrott and Reich wrote. Their study found that 85 percent of the drivers, many of them immigrants, now earn less than this proposed standard.
They said that if the drivers could attain the 22.5 percent raise in net pay, they would take home an additional $6,345 annually. The study is part of a review the taxi commission is conducting to develop a minimum wage and other rules for app-based drivers. The panel plans to release draft rules for public comment soon.
New York’s yellow taxi drivers have joined with drivers for Uber and other app-based ride services to call for guaranteed minimum pay and limits on growth in the number of cars for hire in the largest U.S. city.
