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Comment by mehrdadn | Hacker News Reader

> Let them decline rides without facing penalties by the platform.

Does the model of IC have to imply that every ride is a new, independent contract? Is there no other reasonable model in which multiple rides are part of one contract? Why?

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What would such a contract look like? How would Uber or Lyft hold up their end of a N-ride contract if they don't end up having enough riders that day?

> What would such a contract look like?

The obvious answer: perhaps more similar to the way it looks like right now? I just don't see why IC implies "let them decline rides without facing penalties by the platform".

I don't think it directly implies that, but I think many of the policies in place chip away at things that should be a part of an IC's experience. Imposing penalties from declining rides means that their power to set rates is reduced.

What does the alternative look like? A contract for 10 rides? A contract for one week at a time? What if the driver wants to serve one ride, and then never again: what contract models allow that single ride to fulfill a "contract"?

The alternative is traditionally called a retainer. You hire the contractor for “various tasks over a set period of time up to N tasks and at least M tasks”

This is the indie version of being salaried. Very common among software engineers, for example.

Contracts can be pretty arbitrary. "Independent contractor -- except can't turn down a ride."

Great, next time I take a consulting gig I'll be sure to turn down the jira tickets I don't want to do.

If you were to have a separate contract for every Jira ticket that would be your call to make. Unusual, but fine.

First, Uber doesn’t have separate contracts for every ride.

If a contractor had a contract to accept or decline every jira ticket (although I don’t see anyone ever forming that contract), if they declines too many tickets they would no longer have the option to pick.

Could this be simply solved by having their star rating influenced by % ride drops? Uber can provide its price estimate as just that - a kelly blue book value so that riders can compare and contrast?

Most customers will search for a range of rating + price - so the market can regulate itself. I mean we accept amazon displaying user ratings - so I don't know why this won't work.

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