THE SURGE
REPORT
Driver Intelligence Weekly · For Drivers, By Drivers · Greater LA
THE PAY WAR
Uber's algorithmic wage-setting is now the subject of federal legislation — and it still isn't enough.
Here is the number Uber will never put in a press release: their average take rate is 42% of every fare — confirmed by the National Employment Law Project, backed by a 2025 study, and now the subject of a bill sitting in Congress. On individual rides, that cut climbs to 65% or 70%. That is not a service fee. That is a business model built on your labor.
In July 2025, Congress introduced the Empowering App-Based Workers Act, which would cap platform take rates at 25% and force transparency on earnings data that Uber and Lyft have refused to disclose for years. The bill has not passed. Uber is spending heavily to make sure it does not.
Upfront pricing — launched in 2022 as a "transparency" feature — is where the wage compression started. Before it, Uber's take rate sat around 32%. The moment they controlled both what riders pay and what drivers earn, the take rate jumped to 42%. The algorithm now decides what it thinks you will accept. And every quarter, it thinks you will accept less.
Lyft guarantees drivers 70% or more of the rider's payment after external fees. That gap is exactly why LA's savviest drivers dual-app — using Uber for volume and Lyft to protect their per-ride floor. According to Gridwise data from 500,000+ drivers, Uber drivers net a median $21.18/hr while Lyft comes in at $19.48/hr — but after real expenses, both platforms leave most full-time drivers netting $15–18/hr before tax.
THE FEDERAL TAKE RATE CAP BILL IS ALIVE — AND UBER IS FIGHTING IT
The Empowering App-Based Workers Act proposes a 25% cap on platform cuts. Under that rule, 75% of every fare goes to you. Right now, Uber keeps 42%. Do the math on your last week of rides.What you can do right now: track every mile. The 2026 IRS mileage deduction jumped to $0.725 per mile — up from $0.70 in 2025. A driver doing 1,000 business miles deducts $725. Use Gridwise, Stride, or MileIQ running in the background. This is one of the highest-ROI legal moves available to any driver.
EXPENSE REALITY CHECK
Gas in LA just hit $6.11 a gallon. Here's what you're actually keeping per mile after the pump, the platform, and the IRS.
California just hit the highest gas prices in the country — $6.11 per gallon as of May 4, 2026, according to AAA. That is 37% above the national average of $4.46. In LA, prices run even higher than the statewide number. This is not a spike — it is a trend, up $0.21 from April 1 alone.
The platforms show you gross earnings. Here is what it actually costs to put miles on your car in LA right now:
| Expense | Est. Cost / Mile (LA) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel (25 MPG, $6.11/gal) | $0.24 | Higher for older or larger vehicles |
| Vehicle Depreciation | $0.18 | $0.15–$0.22 range; every mile counts |
| Insurance (rideshare coverage) | $0.08 | Rideshare premium vs. personal policy |
| Maintenance / Tires / Oil | $0.06 | Compounds fast at high weekly mileage |
| Total Real Cost / Mile | ~$0.56 | Before platform cut. Before tax. |
A driver completing a $14 ride covering 10 miles earns a gross $14 — but after Uber's 42% cut ($5.88) and $5.60 in real operating costs, the net on that ride is approximately $2.52. That is before self-employment tax. That is before your phone plan. The platforms do not want you running this math.
The IRS raised its 2026 standard mileage rate to $0.725/mile — up 2.5 cents from 2025. A driver logging 15,000 business miles in 2026 deducts $10,875 and saves roughly $2,400 in taxes at the 22% bracket.
YOUR EXPENSE SURVIVAL CHECKLIST
- Use Arco, Costco Gas, or Sam's Club — consistently $0.30–$0.60/gal cheaper than Shell or Chevron in LA
- Track every business mile automatically — Stride and MileIQ run in the background and export IRS-ready reports
- Full-time driver spending $400/week on gas? That is $20,800/year in fuel alone — your deduction partially offsets that
- Oil changes every 5,000 miles minimum — deferred maintenance at high mileage compounds into major repair bills
- Calculate your real hourly: subtract gas, depreciation, and insurance from gross before evaluating any platform bonus offer
DEACTIVATION COURT
Drivers are taking Uber, Lyft, and Chicago to court. California's RDU just filed in SF Superior Court. These cases are moving — and they matter to every driver on the app.
Ceresa Cohran drove for Uber and Lyft for five years without incident. A passenger accused her of spitting on them. No evidence. No appeal process. Both platforms removed her. Her attorney stated plainly: "There's no evidence, and there's no appeal process." The case has implications for nearly 90,000 licensed rideshare drivers in Chicago.
Filed weeks ago: Rideshare Drivers United alleges Uber is violating Prop. 22 — the very law Uber wrote and funded with $59.5 million. The complaint: Uber deactivates drivers on grounds not in their Platform Access Agreement and provides no real appeal path.
THE NUMBERS: A 2025 survey of 810 California drivers found 40% of deactivated Uber drivers were given no information on how to appeal. Only 3% of drivers who filed a discrimination complaint said the platform adequately investigated. The pipeline from false accusation to deactivation takes days. Reinstatement takes weeks — if it happens at all.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF RIGHT NOW
- Dashcam is your single best defense — California requires passenger notification; a $3 headrest placard is legally sufficient. Vantrue E1 Lite or Garmin 67W, both under $80
- Screenshot every deactivation notice immediately — most platforms give you 72 hours to request review before the window closes
- Under the NY State AG settlement, Uber and Lyft must allow appeal of any permanent deactivation — know this right and use it
- Document incidents the same day: passenger name, trip ID, time, what happened — this becomes your paper trail if a complaint is filed later
POLITICS & LAWS
AB 1340 is now law. 800,000 California drivers have the right to unionize. Here's what it means — and what it doesn't.
Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1340 in October 2025. Effective January 1, 2026, more than 800,000 California rideshare drivers now have the legally protected right to unionize and collectively bargain over wages, benefits, and working conditions — the first time gig workers have been granted union rights while retaining their independent contractor classification.
Here is the catch: Uber and Lyft supported AB 1340 — but only because the legislature simultaneously passed Senate Bill 371, which slashed uninsured motorist coverage requirements from $1 million to $60,000 per individual and $300,000 per accident. Uber called it "a compromise." Rideshare Drivers United called it "not strong enough." Both are right.
The union window opened January 1, 2026. The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) oversees the process. If you want to vote, register with PERB. RDU and SEIU California are the major organizing forces — check drivers-united.org for next steps.
At the federal level, Senators Schatz and Murphy introduced legislation that would cap platform cuts at 25% and require full earnings disclosure. The bill remains in committee. Minnesota and Illinois are also considering driver collective bargaining bills.
⚡ MASSACHUSETTS DRIVERS ALREADY WON MORE THAN CALIFORNIA
MA drivers have a $34.48/hr earnings floor, occupational accident insurance up to $1M, and earned sick time — secured by ballot measure. That is the standard every other state is still fighting toward.WHAT TO DO WITH AB 1340 RIGHT NOW
- Visit drivers-united.org — register your interest in union organizing and find your voting window
- SB 371 dramatically reduced your uninsured motorist protection — review your rideshare insurance policy now to understand the real coverage gap
- Lyft projects $200M in savings from SB 371 — that is insurance cost shifted to drivers and injured parties, not passengers
- Watch the first union vote — it will set the wage floor template for every state that follows California
HEALTH INSURANCE
1 in 6 California drivers is completely uninsured. Most don't know the Prop 22 stipend exists. Here's everything in one place.
Nobody talks about what it costs to get sick as a driver. No sick pay. No workers' comp. No employer coverage. When a stomach bug sidelines you for four days, you do not just lose rides — you lose quest bonuses, streak pay, and consecutive-trip bonuses. One LA driver reported losing a $1,200 streak bonus after a four-day illness. The platforms do not pause your bonus clock because you are sick.
Under California's Prop 22, Uber and Lyft are required to offer a health care stipend to qualifying drivers. The 2026 stipend is tied to the average statewide bronze plan premium — currently $706/month. To qualify, you must average at least 15 engaged hours per week during the quarter. A large share of eligible drivers have never claimed this. Log into your driver app and check your benefits portal today.
After the IRS mileage deduction, your net reported income is often far lower than your gross. A driver earning $52,000 gross but deducting 30,000 miles at $0.725/mile reduces taxable income by $21,750 — bringing the ACA number to around $30,000. At that level, a Silver plan can cost as little as $55/month on CoveredCA.
| If Your Net Income Is | You Likely Qualify For | Est. Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Under ~$21,600 | Medi-Cal (California Medicaid) | $0/month |
| $21,600 – $35,000 | ACA Silver Plan w/ Heavy Subsidy | $20–$80/month |
| $35,000 – $60,000 | ACA Bronze/Silver w/ Subsidy | $80–$200/month |
| Driving 15+ hrs/wk in CA | Prop 22 Health Stipend | $706/month toward premiums |
YOUR 2026 HEALTH COVERAGE ACTION LIST
- Step 1: Log into your Uber or Lyft driver app → Benefits portal → Check Prop 22 stipend eligibility right now
- Step 2: Calculate your net income — gross earnings minus IRS mileage deduction. That is your ACA number, not your gross
- Step 3: Visit CoveredCA.com — run the subsidy calculator with your net income figure
- Step 4: If net income is under $21,600, you likely qualify for Medi-Cal. Free. Call 800-300-1506
- Step 5: A loss of coverage or income change qualifies you for a Special Enrollment Period anytime — not just open enrollment
PASSENGER HALL OF SHAME
Not venting — documented incidents with real consequences. False reports. Retaliation ratings. The system that believes the passenger first.
A Chicago driver was accused by a passenger of spitting on them. No video. No witnesses. No evidence presented before deactivation. Both platforms removed her. Her attorney stated publicly: "There is no evidence, and there is no appeal process." The case is now in federal court. The passenger faced zero consequences.
An LA driver declined a passenger's repeated demands to exceed the speed limit. The passenger left a 1-star rating and filed a "poor driving" complaint. The platform sided with the passenger. The rating drop eliminated the driver's Uber Pro streak bonus — worth approximately $180 that week. The driver had a 4.94 rating before the incident.
THE SYSTEM REALITY: Nearly half of California drivers who experienced racial discrimination by a passenger reported the passenger simultaneously gave them a low rating and filed a complaint. Only 3% of drivers who filed a counter-complaint said the platform adequately investigated. The pipeline from false accusation to deactivation takes days. Reinstatement takes weeks — if it happens at all.
PROTECTION PROTOCOL — USE IT NOW
- In California, notify passengers of dashcam recording — a small placard on your headrest is legally sufficient and costs $3
- If a ride feels wrong before you arrive, use the cancel window. A 4.2-star passenger at 2 AM outside a bar is data, not prejudice
- File your own incident report the moment any ride ends abnormally — your timestamp predates any passenger complaint filed later
- Rate every passenger honestly. Low ratings flag patterns and protect the next driver who gets that passenger
DRIVER SAFETY WATCH
Sunday in Beverly Hills: an armed Uber driver held a passenger hostage for eight hours. Here's what happened — and what it means for every driver on the road.
An Uber driver, Osvaldo Del Rio, 27, was flagged by automated license plate readers in Beverly Hills Sunday afternoon — wanted for attempted murder of a sheriff's deputy. When officers tried to stop his vehicle near San Vicente and Beverly Blvd, Del Rio fled with a rideshare passenger still inside. An eight-hour armed standoff followed. The passenger was safely released around 10:45 PM. Del Rio was taken into custody on $1 million bail. Uber confirmed permanent removal from the platform.
BROADER CONTEXT: A February 2026 jury awarded $8.5 million to a woman assaulted by her Uber driver — the first major bellwether verdict in the Uber sexual assault MDL. Over 3,391 cases are consolidated against Uber in federal and state courts. Advocacy groups report a rideshare-related assault every eight minutes in the U.S. Lyft is facing 17 consolidated sexual assault lawsuits in Northern California alone.
From a driver's perspective, this incident is a reminder of how quickly your car becomes the scene of someone else's emergency. Platform screening systems did not catch a wanted violent felon before Sunday's booking.
SAFETY PROTOCOLS — WHAT DRIVERS CAN CONTROL
- Trust your gut on pickups — if the environment, rating, time, or location feels wrong, cancel. Your safety outranks your acceptance rate
- Dashcam protects you from false accusations and creates a record if a passenger escalates or a situation turns dangerous
- California dashcam law: verbal or posted notice before the ride begins — non-compliance can make footage inadmissible
- In any mid-ride emergency: call 911 first — not Uber support. Support cannot dispatch police. Platform emergency buttons are logged but not monitored live
- If a ride turns dangerous while in progress: pull over in a well-lit public area and wait for law enforcement
RACISM
Multiple studies confirm it. Platforms acknowledged it. Nothing changed. Here is the documented record of racial bias in rideshare — against drivers and against riders.
The data is not ambiguous. A 2025 survey of 810 California drivers by the Asian Law Caucus and Rideshare Drivers United found that nearly half of all drivers who experienced racial discrimination by a passenger also received a low rating from that passenger — and 50% had a formal complaint filed simultaneously. One biased interaction becomes a rating, becomes a complaint, becomes a deactivation.
A Yale School of Management study confirmed the amplification mechanism: because passengers treat high ratings as signals of quality, a biased low rating shapes how future passengers perceive that driver. The spillover amplifies the ratings gap for non-White drivers by 80% and increases their earnings gap by 28%. The algorithm transmits the discrimination. The platform profits from it.
A 2025 study using GPS data from 220,000+ Lyft drivers in Florida found that minority drivers were 24–33% more likely to be cited for speeding than white drivers with statistically identical driving behavior. Accident and reoffending rates were indistinguishable by race. The data came from the drivers' own phones — the science is airtight.
Uber's public position: "Ridesharing has greatly reduced bias for both drivers and riders." The research record: a 2020 class action alleged Uber's star-rating system was driving non-White drivers off the platform at disproportionate rates — calling it "poisoned with racial discrimination." Uber settled. The algorithm did not change. A 2025 survey found only 3% of drivers who filed a discrimination complaint believed the platform adequately addressed it.
The NAACP has called on platforms to stop displaying passenger race information before a driver accepts — because research shows that information enables discrimination in both directions. Neither Uber nor Lyft has acted on this recommendation.
WHAT DRIVERS CAN DO
- If a passenger's complaint follows a pattern that feels discriminatory, document and report it — to the platform and to RDU if you are in California
- AB 1340's union process gives drivers a collective mechanism to raise algorithmic discrimination as a bargaining issue — use it
- Dashcam footage has been the decisive factor in overturning false complaints in documented cases — it protects you from retaliatory ratings too
- Connect with the Asian Law Caucus (asianlawcaucus.org) if you have experienced discrimination as a CA driver — they are actively building deactivation cases
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