Uber lost $8.5 billion dollars in 2019. Think about that. Uber is losing the better part of a billion dollars every month. They are hemmorrhaging money at their current prices. It will cost a lot more for this to be profitable when you consider how much more expensive this will make the drivers.
I think their current rates are a lot, so their current rates plus $2 are also a lot, but I think most riders would tolerate it.
I don't know where the equilibrium point is, I just know it's higher than what Uber is charging. My extremely hand-wavy guess is rides would need to cost around 50% more.
There's your problem. I think you need to go and research and see how much an employee costs to the employer in CA. In terms of taxes, overhead, accounting, insurance, and everything else CA demands.
It will cost substantially more. Employment taxes and benefits alone add another 30% to Uber's cost structure. On top of that, paying drivers for downtime (which will be inevitable in an employment model) will add who knows how much more. I wouldn't be surprised if prices rise by 50%+ in suburbs.
It’s hard to see how they can claim drivers as contractors under this guideline
Less trite - my nephew is in his mid-twenties and appreciates the flexibility that food delivery and ride sharing allows him. Is legislation that outlaws that an improvement?
I've been an independent contractor for large parts of my professional life; I think it can be a great setup when it's truly independent. But for decades companies have been ramping up fake contracting, where it's just employment but worse.