Ride-hailing: Are Drivers an Asset?

Do you see drivers as an asset for Uber?

The loyalty is a tricky point. I think that is something where Lyft has done a much better job than Uber, valuing their drivers and appreciating them, treating them like an asset, whereas Uber has not always done that everywhere.

Lyft capitalised on the whole Travis story and they had the chance to gain even bigger trust from the drivers, but they don’t earn more money on Lyft.

No, absolutely not. It’s all about framing. Lyft framed it extremely well, and Uber was the evil empire. Lyft tried to be Luke Skywalker, pink moustache—it worked pretty well.

If the driver uses all the different platforms, how valuable of an asset can they be?

It’s a shared asset in the ride-sharing community. It’s not a competitive advantage. Given the loyalty or lack thereof, it’s not an asset, in that sense.

Do you think Uber has to lock down drivers, claim the asset?

Absolutely. And that’s why high efficiency is extremely crucial because if you have forward dispatch, which means you can get a trip while you’re on another trip, the driver doesn’t get to switch apps—they never need to. They log on to the app and they’re busy ‘til they log off, ideally. And that’s why utilisation is so crucial. They enjoy it. Every trip is a success. Every trip gives you a good feeling about yourself, so the more trips, the better. We should lock drivers in by making their lives easier on various fronts, providing additional value to them besides an opportunity to earn money.