USING LYFT RIDER APP DRIVERS
USING LYFT RIDER APP DRIVER

USING LYFT RIDER APP DRIVERS

As problems have mounted at the company, from an allegation of sexual harassment in its offices to revelations that it created a tool to deliberately evade regulatory scrutiny, Uber has made softening its posture toward drivers a litmus test of its ability to become a better corporate citizen. Uber’s recent emphasis on drivers is no accident.

USING LYFT RIDER APP DRIVER

“But any driver can stop work literally at the tap of a button - the decision whether or not to drive is 100 percent theirs.” “We show drivers areas of high demand or incentivize them to drive more,” said Michael Amodeo, an Uber spokesman. In Uber’s case, this means sending drivers their next fare opportunity before their current ride is even over.Īnd most of this happens without giving off a whiff of coercion. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program, which many experts believe encourages binge-watching. To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals - alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off.

It’s a quest for a perfectly efficient system: a balance between rider demand and driver supply at the lowest cost to passengers and the company.Įmploying hundreds of social scientists and data scientists, Uber has experimented with video game techniques, graphics and noncash rewards of little value that can prod drivers into working longer and harder - and sometimes at hours and locations that are less lucrative for them.

Uber helps solve this fundamental problem by using psychological inducements and other techniques unearthed by social science to influence when, where and how long drivers work. And this lack of control can wreak havoc on a service whose goal is to seamlessly transport passengers whenever and wherever they want. This allows Uber to minimize labor costs, but means it cannot compel drivers to show up at a specific place and time. Uber’s innovations reflect the changing ways companies are managing workers amid the rise of the freelance-based “gig economy.” Its drivers are officially independent business owners rather than traditional employees with set schedules. “We are now re-examining everything we do in order to rebuild that love.”Īnd yet even as Uber talks up its determination to treat drivers more humanely, it is engaged in an extraordinary behind-the-scenes experiment in behavioral science to manipulate them in the service of its corporate growth - an effort whose dimensions became evident in interviews with several dozen current and former Uber officials, drivers and social scientists, as well as a review of behavioral research. “We’ve underinvested in the driver experience,” a senior official said. Notably, the company also announced that it would fix its troubled relationship with drivers, who have complained for years about falling pay and arbitrary treatment. But in March, facing crises on multiple fronts, top officials convened a call for reporters to insist that Uber was changing its culture and would no longer tolerate “brilliant jerks.” The secretive ride-hailing giant Uber rarely discusses internal matters in public.

Using lyft rider app