NYC Rideshare Drivers First-In-Nation To Receive Cost-Of-Living Wage Adjustment To Combat Inflation – Other Cities Likely To Follow Suit

As Other Cities Strike for Better Pay, NYC App Drivers Receive Raise

NYC’s Minimum Pay Standard Continues to Ensure that the City’s Rideshare Drivers Receive Fair Compensation that Keeps Up with Inflation

Editor’s note: As many of our readers know, ridesharing turned out the be the wave of the future, and appears to be here to stay.  While this is good news for riders, it was not always good news for drivers.  As those quoted below state, Uber and Lyft had to be pressured multiple times with strikes in order to allow this cost of living adjustment to stand in NYC.  Now, they will be forced to allow the same laws to be enacted in other cities, but only because of the pressure of driver’s unions and the drivers themselves.  As union members often say, you must keep up the fight.  This is an important win for drivers, making it easier for them to earn a living wage. 

As someone who has been friends with car service owners and taxi drivers for years, they simply do not have the same issues as the ridesharing drivers.  Most of them make above minimum wage in New York, and in the pre-Uber and -Lyft days, they were able to make a decent living. 

While many car services around the city have folded due to the rideshare takeover, Staten Island stands out as a place where people are still loyal to their local car service companies, who have so far, and will likely continue to, pay their drivers a fair and liveable wage. Car service workers on Staten Island have bought homes, raised families, and lived meaningful working-class lives, with a steady job to hold them up.  This was not the case for ridesharing drivers, so it is about time that they get to experience the same kind of life that car service workers have usually enjoyed, even as far back as the 1970s, if the show Taxi (shot in New York) is any indication.   

NEW YORK, NY – As drivers in other major American cities strike by banning airport trips on Valentine’s Day, The New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) is pleased to announce that beginning March 1, 2023, NYC’s rideshare drivers will receive a minimum per trip pay increase of 3.49% to compensate for inflation. The increase, tied to the Consumer Price Index, comes as part of the city’s requirement to adjust minimum pay for rideshare drivers annually.

For the city’s 84,000 active rideshare drivers, the new pay rates will amount to almost a dollar extra for a typical 30-minute, 7.5-mile trip. New York City was the first U.S. municipality to mandate minimum driver pay, a policy that other cities have since adopted. The increase carries no requirement that Uber and Lyft, which determine their own prices, pass on additional costs to passengers.

“New York City drivers are some of the hardest working people on the globe, working day in and day out to keep our city moving,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “Just a few years ago, many of these incredible drivers were unfairly making less than minimum wage because there were no protections in place. Not on our watch. We are proud that these rules now exist, keeping our city a place where working-class people can live and raise a family.”

“The minimum driver pay standard has been a lifeline for the tens of thousands of for-hire drivers who meet us when and where we want them, and safely get us to our destinations,” said Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi. “They support us, and we must support them– that means maintaining fair pay that tracks with living costs, both for the wellbeing of drivers and the health of the overall industry.”

“Our minimum pay standard ensures that our hardworking drivers aren’t just spinning their wheels and going nowhere because of inflation,” said TLC Commissioner David Do. “The adjustment can mean the difference between falling behind on rent or food due to rising costs and keeping up with the economic times. I’m proud to be part of the agency that first required this, and it’s a pleasure to be able to let drivers know that they’ll be getting an increase.”

“An annual CPI adjustment is something every working person should have, and is especially meaningful for Uber and Lyft drivers who bear the costs of operations while the companies take the lion’s share of the revenue. We organized to win TLC’s ground-breaking regulations that were the first-of-its kind to ensure Uber and Lyft drivers were not left in poverty,” said Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of the 28,000-member NYTWA which represents app-dispatched and taxicab drivers.

“Last year, we had to organize three strikes against Uber to get the company to not pursue litigation when the TLC redid the CPI rules in light of historic inflation.  Drivers had to choose between food and fuel, as their income didn’t keep up with cost of living. It’s taken a fight, but in the end, we’ve prevailed. We are proud today to celebrate as Uber and Lyft drivers get their 2024 CPI adjustment. New York City’s minimum pay standard is a model for the rest of the country. Next up for us, is to get the same income protection for other taxi and FHV drivers.”

“New York’s Uber and Lyft drivers continue to struggle to make ends meet amid soaring costs, so these cost of living increases are desperately needed.  Our Guild led a years-long campaign for New York to enact the nation’s first minimum pay rates for rideshare drivers, and we appreciate Commissioner Do acting promptly to enforce these wage standards,” said Brendan Sexton, president of the Independent Drivers Guild, a Machinists Union affiliate which represents and advocates for more than 300,000 rideshare drivers.

Banner Image: Taxi in motion. Image Credit –  Mike Tsitas