Uber fares up despite driver income decline, Oxford study suggests

Uber’s use of dynamic pricing has led to larger fares for passengers and decrease earnings for drivers, while rising the corporate’s share of income, a examine has steered.The College of Oxford examine analysed knowledge from 258 Uber drivers within the UK over greater than 1.5 million journeys between 2016 and 2024.It discovered there had been a “vital shift” when the corporate launched a dynamic pricing algorithm in 2023, which it mentioned meant “passengers now pay extra per journey, however drivers’ earnings have declined”.Uber mentioned some claims within the report have been “completely false”, including that each one drivers have been proven their potential earnings for a visit earlier than deciding whether or not to simply accept it.The examine, which was carried out by researchers from the college’s Laptop Science division, mentioned Uber’s fee had risen from about 25% to 29% since its dynamic pricing mannequin was launched.In the identical time, researchers discovered that drivers’ hourly revenue fell from greater than £22 to simply over £19 – with drivers spending extra unpaid time ready for rides than earlier than.Uber started working in Oxford in February, regardless of non-public rent and black cab drivers warning the taxi app big that it could battle to achieve the town.Researchers mentioned the examine “highlights the widening hole between what prospects pay and what drivers obtain”.”The upper the worth of the journey, the extra of a minimize Uber takes. So the extra the client pays, the much less the driving force really earns per minute,” its lead writer, prof Reuben Binns, defined.The examine was commissioned by the Employees Info Trade, which is run by former Uber driver James Farrar – who beforehand efficiently campaigned for the corporate’s drivers to be handled as staff, slightly than self-employed.Responding to the examine, an Uber spokesperson mentioned the corporate “don’t recognise the figures on this report.”They highlighted that drivers within the UK took residence greater than £1bn in earnings between January and March of this 12 months, with all drivers receiving a weekly abstract of their earnings, together with a “clear breakdown of what Uber and the driving force acquired from journeys”.On common throughout the week, the share saved by Uber has “remained secure for a number of years, however can range from week to week and from one driver to a different”, the corporate mentioned.”We’re proud that 1000’s of drivers proceed to make the constructive option to work on Uber as passenger demand and journeys proceed to develop,” the spokesperson added.