A new study from researchers in the University of Oxford's Department of Computer Science has found that Uber's use of dynamic pricing has led to higher fares for passengers and lower earnings for drivers, while increasing Uber's share of revenue.

The study analyzed data from 258 UK Uber drivers over more than 1.5 million trips between 2016 and 2024. This revealed a significant shift when Uber introduced a dynamic pricing algorithm in 2023. Passengers now pay more per trip, but drivers’ earnings have declined. Adjusted for inflation, drivers’ hourly income fell from over £22 to just over £19 before operating costs, and drivers are spending more unpaid time waiting for rides than before. Uber’s commission has risen from around 25% to 29% and in some cases, Uber took over half the value of the fare.

    • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
      1·
      21 hours ago

      But are your customers on Lyft? It’s no good getting 10% more per journey if you’re doing half as many of them.

      I assume most taxi drivers are on as many services as they can cram onto their phones anyway, hoping to cherry-pick any decent jobs.

      • iopq@lemmy.world
        1·
        7 hours ago

        When I drove Lyft in my area it was enough to be busy, but I wouldn’t know now