“After a long trip, you just want to get home,” stated Eros Lamb, ready for an Uber experience at PDX. “Pretty soon I’m going to have to find a friend and pay them gas money to take me home.”
Today, there are roughly 6,500 Uber, Lyft and taxi drivers registered with the town of Portland, in comparison with 17,000 three years in the past.
“A lot of the drivers are not coming back because they’re concerned about COVID,” stated Uber driver Jerald McClinton.
During the pandemic, 77% of Uber and Lyft drivers in Portland stated COVID was the first purpose they stopped driving, in line with a examine by DHM analysis performed for the town of Portland in 2020.
“I have kids. I have a family. My father, he’s older. I don’t want to get anyone sick,” stated McClinton.
Drivers additionally left as a result of there wasn’t as a lot demand. Portland went from virtually 13 million Uber, Lyft and taxi rides a yr in 2019 to roughly 4 million in 2021. Drivers weren’t making as a lot cash and pay fashions modified, together with bonuses. Additionally, Uber and Lyft drivers had been eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds beneath the CARES Act, easing some monetary pressures.
“There’s been kind of a reassessment of the whole rideshare industry,” stated former Uber driver Jason Timm. He left throughout the pandemic for a job as a DJ and expertise designer. Timm was one in every of Portland’s hottest rideshare drivers, even featured in an Uber promotion.
“I think there’s a lot more opportunities for actual jobs out there with benefits and things, so it’s harder for people to make the choice to stay in their car all day and have pay all the costs that go with that,” stated Timm.
Both Uber and Lyft are providing incentives to attempt and lure drivers again to the apps however they face stiff competitors from different gig companies — like meals supply.
“A lot of drivers switched over to Uber Eats, Door Dash, Instacart, many other gig economy jobs,” defined Sergio Avedian, who writes for the business weblog Ride Share Guy.
Avedian defined Uber and Lyft are in the identical place as many different corporations and industries. The rideshare giants are preventing to draw employees.
“Top to bottom, everybody was forced to hit their reset button—value their worth, what they’re doing and should they change jobs,” stated Avedian.
The driver scarcity has impacted wait instances for riders in Portland, though situations look like bettering. Last yr, the common wait time in Portland for an Uber, Lyft or taxi was virtually 5 minutes — in comparison with a roughly three-and-a-half-minute wait in 2019, in line with knowledge supplied by the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
It’s tough to gauge whether or not this driver scarcity actually impacts how a lot you pay for a experience. Uber and Lyft don’t publicly disclose pricing knowledge.
Analysis by the analysis agency Rakuten Intelligence discovered the price of a experience from a ride-sharing app like Uber or Lyft elevated 92% nationwide between January 2018 and July 2021. Before the pandemic, the rideshare corporations sponsored the worth of rides with promotions and reductions — even decreasing the price of rides to draw new customers to the apps.
Uber and Lyft recommend enterprise is bouncing again after a stoop attributable to the pandemic. Both corporations reported rising income and returning passengers in quarterly launched final week.
“While the Omicron variant began to impact our business in late December, Mobility is already starting to bounce back, with Gross Bookings up 25% month-on-month in the most recent week,” stated Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a press release.
At PDX, the demand for Uber and Lyft drivers is obvious. During a busy afternoon, a line of passengers could possibly be seen ready, holding their telephones, anxiously watching for his or her driver.
“It’s just not the convenience that it used to be,” stated Karen Roberts, after she arrived at PDX. “We’re waiting.”
The query is: Will Uber and Lyft drivers come again as Portland begins shifting once more?