In the parking lot at BWI Airport where the drivers for Uber and Lyft wait for their next fares, a large digital sign looms across the street and tells them life is about to get harder.
It’s the Shell station, where the price of gas ticks up and up and up.
As the Iran war upends global oil markets, the average cost of a gallon of gas in Maryland is hovering around $4 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s up more than $1 from a month ago, and a prolonged conflict could push prices higher.
The Banner spoke with a dozen people who drive for Uber and Lyft. Most said it has never been tougher to make a living as a gig driver — and that was before this spike in gas prices.
“This is very hard. How can I explain? It’s very difficult to survive,” said Cem Rezmi, 53, of Towson.
According to state regulators, there are about 175,000 drivers for platforms such as Uber and Lyft in Maryland, which is equivalent to about 3.6% of the state’s adult population. Most drivers are men ranging from their 30s to their 50s, and many are immigrants, said Mitchell Yangson, director of DMV Drivers Alliance, an organization that advocates for drivers in Maryland, Virginia and Washington.
Yangson said a common misconception is that drivers earn most or all of the fares that riders pay. Longtime drivers can remember the early days of Uber, when the California company took just 20% of each fare. That’s no longer the case.
Gashaw Tekola, 48, of Baltimore County, said he thought he hit the jackpot recently when a long ride paid him $130. Then the rider showed Tekola his fare: about $300.
Other drivers said they are paid about a third of the total fare charged by Uber and Lyft. Because drivers are independent contractors rather than full-time employees, they are not entitled to a minimum wage. How much they make per hour can vary.
In February 2024, Lyft published a study showing its drivers made about $31 an hour, including tips and bonuses. When Lyft factored in gas, maintenance and repair, depreciation and cleaning costs, the pay dropped to about $23.50, but that figure doesn’t account for income tax or car insurance.
A study published in May 2024 by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, surveyed thousands of ride-sharing drivers in five metropolitan areas, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, and found drivers in each area made less than the minimum wage. According to the report, the median net pay for drivers in California was $11.43 an hour.
In Maryland, most drivers interviewed by The Banner said they made $15 to $20 an hour, before factoring in maintenance costs, income tax, insurance and gas.
When gas prices surged in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, Uber and Lyft temporarily added surcharges to rides to offset the cost. The Iran war has caused a bigger price shock, but ride-sharing companies haven’t implemented a similar surcharge.
Instead, this week Uber and Lyft started 60-day relief programs for drivers. Drivers can earn cash-back rewards if they purchase gas using debit cards affiliated with Uber or Lyft or if they buy gas at certain stations.
Even an electric car driver, 62-year-old Ashraf Asil of Bethesda, was struggling to be optimistic about driving for Uber or Lyft. Asil said she believes the companies prefer to give the longer, more lucrative rides to gas-powered cars, because electric cars often have less range.
Some drivers feared speaking out directly against the two major platforms. Uber or Lyft can deactivate a driver’s account for a variety of reasons, they said, with little recourse for the driver.
But other drivers, including 43-year-old Jeffrey Sweetland of Prince George’s County, said it was time to stand up.
“We the drivers are the backbone for these companies, and they have really forgotten that,” said Sweetland, a member of the DMV Drivers Alliance. “You’ve got drivers out there now, they might be doing 12-hour shifts and coming away with $150. For 12 hours. That’s nothing.”
Nupur Chowdhury, 54, lives in Virginia but frequently drives in Maryland. He said riders tell him fares have been increasing lately, but he’s not seeing an uptick in his pay and he can’t explain why.
That’s because Uber and Lyft no longer use formulas based on mileage and time. Instead, they rely on algorithms to calculate fares that drivers say leaves them in the dark.
That may soon change in Virginia, said Yangson of the DMV Drivers Alliance, where lawmakers in both chambers have passed a bill requiring ride-sharing companies to create an itemized receipt for each trip. Yangson said it’s a rare legislative win for the drivers over the platforms.
Uber and Lyft each have several registered lobbyists in Annapolis, public records show, and Uber recently spent $12,500 hosting two events for state lawmakers at an upscale steakhouse.
Del. Joe Vogel, a Montgomery County Democrat, introduced a bill this session that would have established a minimum payment for each Uber and Lyft trip based on mileage and time and rising with inflation.
The bill died in committee.
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