Uber drivers in the Washington, D.C. area are seeing a decline in fares due to the government shutdown, as workers stay home, and are also facing competition after some federal employees, who are out of work because of the shutdown, started working at ride-sharing companies to make up for their disrupted income.
“I’ve definitely noticed a big slowdown. Two factors: 1. Less people going to and from work means less trips to be given. 2. More drivers vying for a smaller number of rides. I’ve had a number of riders say their last driver was a furloughed federal employee,” Troy, a D.C.-based driver, told the Washington Examiner.
The recent shifts in rate structures of Uber are also affecting the drivers who are now earning less because of the partial government shutdown, which has further decreased the income of regular Uber drivers.
“It is the non-peak hours where I’ve noticed that things have really dropped off and that has a fair amount to do with the shutdown,” said David Hogberg, a part-time Uber driver from Maryland who works on Tuesdays from morning to early afternoon after taking his son to daycare.
“That has dropped off a lot since last year. I used to get anywhere from six to 10 rides. Now it’s been like three or four,” added Hogberg.
According to drivers, another factor that negatively affected their earnings was the changes in the rate structure made by Uber last year. Last October, the rates drivers earned per minute were increased by the company, while the rates they were paid per mile declined. Although Uber on its website said that the shift would not change the income of drivers, many drivers claimed that was not true. The new rates are likely to remain unchanged even after the government shutdown ends.
Following the shutdown, federal workers in the D.C. area have increasingly applied for work at ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. According to Politico, about 9,000 federal workers have filed for unemployment benefits.