Comment by rattray | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rattray | Hacker News Reader

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Some questions here about whether this means drivers will get paid for idle time. This Seattle Times article has clearer wording on this:

> The legislation will set new per-mile and per-minute rates for drivers while they’re transporting passengers, meant to be high enough to also account for expenses and downtime.

> To guarantee the minimum wage, the new rules will use a combination of per-minute and per-mile pay rates, divided by what’s known as a “utilization rate.” That figure is based on the share of drivers’ time spent with passengers in the car, rather than waiting for a ride.

Other specifics include $29.90/hr gross hourly pay while driving (to target $16.39/hr total), $5 per-trip minimum.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/sea...

Another quote, voicing a concern I share:

> the new formula incentivizes companies to keep that utilization time high when the city calculates its pay rates. That can mean the companies look for ways to have fewer drivers on the road.

Personally, I'm all for legislation around minimum per-minute, per-mile, and per-trip payments. Keeps a level playing field and prevents a race to the bottom in a situation where workers can't collectively bargain.

But this "utilization rate" thing definitely sounds like an overreach that's likely to have unintended/regrettable consequences. It should be up to drivers to determine if they're spending too much time waiting around, and choose to do something else with their time when that's the case (my impression is this is one of the best parts of these programs for drivers currently - it's easy to act on your opportunity cost).

What happens with drivers logged-in on multiple apps at the same time? Do they both pay the driver his iddle fee?

Almost every driver I encountered had both apps open and would shut the other one down when accepting a ride.

How does this works for medallions drivers? The poor driver who just paid 150$ for the privilege of renting a medallion car for the day. Is he getting paid when waiting for rides?

The point is that there is no idle fee. The legislation just states the minimum required wage for time and miles spent with a passenger, as well as a $5/trip minimum.

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