The Retired Driving for Uber/Lyft

choi

Elizabeth Olson, Retired, and Now Hitting the Road for Uber and Lyft. New York Times, Jan 23, 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/2 ... -uber-and-lyft.html

Excerpt in the window of print: Younger drivers say they can't make a living. Elder ones don't expect to.

Quote:

(a) "Drivers are in such demand [really?] that last July Uber and Life Reimagined, a subsidiary of AARP, the organization for people over 50, formed a partnership to recruit more people as drivers.

"They are trying to tap into the 50-and-older work force, a segment that is growing steadily, according to an AARP report released last year.

(b) "Uber, which surveyed drivers in 2014 and 2015, found that nearly one-fourth of its drivers were 50 or older.

"Older drivers are prized because they usually own their own cars, have adequate auto insurance and, according to insurance statistics, have fewer crashes.

(c) Lyft "said it did not track the ages of its drivers

(d) "Another attraction [of driving for Uber or Lyft], compared to driving a taxi, is safety, since customers are screened and no cash is exchanged.

(e) "Expenses like repairs 'have to be done anyway,' she [a Uber driver] said, 'and you can write some of it off on taxes [as cost of doing business].'