LAX: Uber and Lyft drivers protest low wages

Uber and Lyft drivers protested outside LAX on Sunday, one of the busiest days of the year in LAX due to their concern with unjust income rates. According to Carlos Herrera, and Uber driver, claiming that their per mile rate is as low as $0.72 and continuing to drop. This was after Uber stated that the pay drivers a minimum of $10 per fare from LAX. LAX sees 239,000 passengers pass through their system and over 122,000 vehicles drive through the terminal routes to pick up or drop off passengers.

Uber driver income is a standard model to calculate, it is base fare + miles + time + surge + bonuses + tipping. So, let's take a closer look at the income model per city since prices differ in every city. According to a SherpaShare study performed on Uber income rates, the net income is around $8 to $12 per city with one exception: NYC.

Our take: No one forces drivers to sit and wait at airports, there are many ways to earn income from rideshare driving, waiting at the airport is one of them, but not the only one. If the income is not sound, then find another source to generate the income per mile. Once drivers abandon the airport, it will become a continuous surge point. Another issue is that drivers have to realize that this is a competitive market, with Taxi's, trains, buses, Lyft and Uber all competing for the same number of passengers that were coming through the system before ridesharing became so popular. The market is saturated with drivers, so much so, that it can become uneconomical to serve certain areas due to over saturation.