This Week In Rideshare: Recalls, $80 and Tips.
Waymo recalls over 600 cars, a driver makes $80 a week and how many passengers tip? LegalRideshare breaks it down.
WAYMO RECALLS 600+ SELF-DRIVING CARS
Waymo has recalled more than 600 self-driving cars. Fox 10 reported:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in its report that last month a driverless Waymo vehicle hit a wooden utility pole in Phoenix while it was in an alleyway and trying to perform a low-speed pullover maneuver.
Waymo has completed a software update that improves the automated driving system’s response to poles or pole-like permanent objects. It also provided a map update to include a hard road edge between the pole or pole-like object and the driveable surface.
“Following an event on May 21 in Phoenix, we have chosen to file a voluntary software recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to address a mapping and software issue. We have already deployed mapping and software updates across our entire fleet, and this does not impact our current operations. As we serve more riders in more cities, we will continue our safety first approach, working to earn trust with our riders, community members, regulators, and policymakers.”
$80 IN ONE WEEK
One driver came home with $80…after a week of work. CNBC reported:
When he and his wife divorced, he was earning less than $25,000 a year after taxes, alimony, child support and other debt payments. In 2016, he decided to turn to ride-sharing to make some extra money.
He eventually wrote his memoir about all that followed.
To earn “a decent hourly wage,” Rigsby told CNBC earlier this month, “you’re forced to work long hours at odd times and to rely on bonuses and tips and surge payments.”
He aimed to make $250 a week on the road, but this wasn’t always possible. After his car expenses, he earned just $80 one week.
TIPPING UBER/LYFT DRIVERS
How often do passengers tip their drivers? Business Insider reported:
An analysis of over 500,000 US gig drivers provided to BI by Gridwise, a data-analytics company that helps drivers track their earnings, found that roughly 28% of Uber and Lyft ride-hailing trips get tips, compared to 87% of food-delivery trips and 74% of grocery trips. The analysis was based on US tipping data between January 1 and June 6.
Tips can be especially important for people who drive full-time and, therefore, are more reliant on their ride-hailing incomes. According to Gridwise data, roughly 30% of US Uber drivers drove at least 25 hours a week in the first quarter of 2024.
Carrie, a five-star rideshare driver since 2015, said she’s driven in a handful of states but has never made above $30 an hour. A few weeks ago, she drove 90 trips and only got tipped for six of them, which was just $38.52. She said she’s had drivers tell her they wish they could tip her but didn’t have the funds at the moment.
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