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Comment by tzier | Hacker News Reader

> One thing I'd like to know is whether people doing lyft or über full time do on average better or worse than their yellowcab counterpart.

A good indicator is that most cab drivers (at least in SF) have switched over to Uber. The only ones who aren't doing Uber either (a) got low reviews on Uber and kicked off the platform or (b) have some odd loyalty to cab companies (e.g. maybe they're a part owner in a medallion).

Most taxi cab drivers are treated more poorly than Uber/Lyft drivers. They have to drive to a centralized location to pick up / drop off the car, don't have their own car to take care of, have to pay a per day fee that they don't always pay back if they don't get enough business, etc.

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It's less than perfect. People could be migrating more because lyft and über are siphoning away fares. So they go where there is money, even if it's less than historically.

Which makes me want to clarify things. Are über lyft drivers better off than yellow cabs where these platforms have not yet disrupted? In other words, are they better off on über now or yellow cab historically? The answer, I suspect, will remain the same, but its far from cut and dried, I think.

This ultimately comes down to the debate between capitalism vs socialism - if people are still driving at lower rates, then we weren't at a market equilibrium. But should they have basic coverages?

I expect the ODE to become a huge topic for the 2016 election, since (at a high level) it's a manifestation of the Republican vs Democratic platforms.

I think it's more difficult to get to the truth.

This article seems credible: https://pando.com/2015/01/09/the-hidden-cost-of-being-an-ube...

But, what it shows as the "income after op cost" isn't the real truth. That figure ($12.62/hr in Chicago, $34.04/hr in NYC) would be basically 1099 income. You would have to pay self employment tax (not trivial), and forgo whatever benefits a cab company might provide their employees.

If you look for average salary for cab drivers, and compare to the above, you would gather that cab drivers do better than Uber drivers in Chicago, but worse in NYC.

I can't find any credible sources where it seems 100% clear that the comparison is thorough, and apples to apples.

I'm a former CPA and founder of Zen99, which built tax tools for independent contractors like Uber drivers. So this is my forte :)

You're right that it's not cut and dry, and can't be. There are too many specifics to take into account. For example, if you're a part time worker at Whole Foods, you don't get to write off your commute to and from work. But as an Uber driver, there are ways you can do this so you pay less in taxes, which can make your take home more than the WF worker. Neither of them get benefits bc part time employees don't have to be given benefits (note: not sure on what WF policies are, but that's a true statement for part time employees in general).

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