Lyft drivers say they are happier, better paid than Uber drivers

Lyft drivers are outnumbered by Uber drivers but say they are happier and better paid in a survey conducted by The Rideshare Guy, an independent blog. Lyft drivers are outnumbered by Uber drivers but say they are happier and better paid in a survey conducted by The Rideshare Guy, an independent blog. Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Lyft drivers say they are happier, better paid than Uber drivers 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Uber drivers vastly outnumber Lyft drivers — but the latter say they are happier and better paid.

Those are among findings of a survey of 1,150 drivers by the Rideshare Guy, an independent blog and podcast for people who drive for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates and similar services. The survey, conducted through email this month, is among the largest independent polls of drivers.

“It’s clear that Uber is the dominant force,” said Harry Campbell, who drives for both services, as well as running the Rideshare Guy. “It’s also clear that drivers are not super-satisfied with their experiences there.”

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Three-quarters of surveyed drivers (863) primarily work for Uber, largely because it’s a much bigger source of passengers, he found. But only 49.4 percent of those Uber-centric drivers said they are “satisfied with their Uber driving experience.” (Most drivers work for both services, but the survey probed satisfaction and other factors for those who identified either Uber or Lyft as their primary service.)

Uber drivers were even less pleased with UberPool, with only 12.8 percent saying they like the company’s shared-ride option. “The obfuscating pay structure and additional hassle of picking up and dropping off multiple riders has been a major pain point for drivers,” the survey said.

By contrast, Lyft-centric drivers were a far more upbeat group. While only 235 drivers, or 20 percent, said they primarily drive for Lyft, 75.8 percent of them said they are satisfied with driving for Lyft. Those drivers also reported higher earnings, averaging around $17.50 an hour, almost $2 an hour more than the average $15.68 reported by Uber drivers. Average earnings are calculated after taking out the companies’ commissions but before deducting expenses such as gas, insurance and car maintenance.

Lyft’s app includes a way for passengers to tip their driver, which probably accounts for the difference. Uber has resisted adding tipping to its app.

“If a rider gives a $1 tip (on Lyft), those tips go 100 percent to the driver, with no credit card processing fee and no commission,” Campbell said. “Those $1 or $2 tips really add up over time to a big chunk.”

But while Lyft “has carved out a very nice little niche,” the fact remains that Uber is much busier.

“Uber is where the rides are,” Campbell said. “If you can stay busy with Lyft in your city, you’ll make more money, but that’s the challenge. If it has less market share, you may have to drive 10 or 20 minutes (to pick up) a passenger. Uber has much more density, more frequent ride requests, and (passengers) who are closer together.”

Drivers said that pay is the most important thing to them, with flexibility running second. Only a sliver said they care about benefits such as health insurance and unemployment — which are not available to them because Uber and Lyft drivers are classified as independent contractors, rather than employees.

The survey primarily focused on U.S. drivers, although a handful of international drivers responded. A small number of drivers surveyed drove for services such as Postmates and DoorDash, often in addition to Uber and Lyft.

The Rideshare Guy sent the survey to almost 30,000 subscribers, giving them one week to respond. Respondents who said they are not a driver yet were eliminated.

Mike White exemplified some of the highs and lows of ride-hail driving. He started working for Lyft in 2013 in his native Los Angeles, found he loved the flexibility and camaraderie with passengers and continued his driving after a move to San Francisco. Also a writer and comedian, he submitted a video he shot to Lyft, earning him a trip to the Sundance Film Festival a few years ago as a “Lyft creative” — a driver who pursues creative vocations.

But as Lyft cut its fares in San Francisco, his earnings decreased. Company policy said he could no longer qualify for incentives because his 2006 Toyota Corolla was too old. He found that passengers were acting too entitled, and so many other ride-hail drivers were flooding the roads that he didn’t feel safe. “By the end, I felt like a human doormat,” he said. He no longer drives for Lyft.

Looking at demographics, the survey found that about a fifth of drivers on both Uber and Lyft are female, higher than the 12.7 percent national average of women taxi drivers and chauffeurs. Women reported earning $14.26 an hour, about $2 less than the average $16.61 for all men. While the survey didn’t explore why, it speculated that the difference could be because women prefer driving during daylight hours.

While passengers tend to be young, drivers do not. Slightly more than half of drivers said they are 51 or older, while 77.5 percent said they are 41 or older. Just over 78 percent of surveyed drivers said they are white, while 7.1 percent are Hispanic and 6.8 percent are black.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid