this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2025
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Male Drivers Sue Uber and Lyft Over Women-Only Ride-Hailing (time.com)
submitted 4 days ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/tech@programming.dev
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[โ€“] vithigar@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Can you elaborate on what the "setup costs" are? You say you're excluding the cost of your vehicle because you already had it and I would've thought that was pretty much all you need to get started. Isn't that the point, anyone with a car can do it?

[โ€“] 18107@aussie.zone 8 points 2 days ago

I'm in Australia, so requirements may differ.

I was required to get

  • an operator accreditation for my car to be used
  • a driver accreditation so that I can drive
  • a vehicle inspection to prove the vehicle is safe to use
  • different (more expensive) car registration to register the car as a rideshare vehicle
  • increase in compulsory third party insurance to match the registration
  • increase in car insurance for have a vehicle used for commercial purposes

In total, it was over $2,000 AUD and more than 1 month before I was permitted to take my first trip. With no training, no income guarantee, and no guarantee that I wouldn't be immediately ~~fired~~ banned without cause.

Uber takes a 30%* cut first, then out of the remainder I had to pay 10% GST, then all car maintenance and fuel.
It was many hours of driving to break even. Adding the cost of food eaten while taking lunch away from home, I'm not sure I ever actually broke even. I certainly didn't earn anything close to a living wage.

*number is out of date and from (poor) memory. Do not quote this number.