← The impacts · AItopiaOrAImageddon?

entry · p2026-09-07-045 · validated

Uber dynamic (upfront) pricing and work allocation

has increased by 38%, from an average of £8.47 in the period
tech
uber-dynamic-pricing
passes the definition as
per-trip fares and driver fees set independently by a system whose inputs include predicted cancellation probability and a deep-neural-network ETA
from
2023-01
region
UK
domain
work
side
loss
people
258 drivers (2024-10)
effect
38 percent (2024-10) — Uber's average surplus per worker hour rose 38%, from £8.47 to £11.70, over the same drivers' labour
reversible
yes
who holds the switch
owner:Uber
attribution
named
source kind
primary
the statistic
Measured on the same 258 drivers, Uber's average surplus per worker hour (revenue minus driver pay, minus non-driver costs) rose from £8.47 in 2020/01–2022/02 to £11.70 in 2023/03–2024/10, a 38% increase. The authors note this cannot be explained by the mean take rate, which stayed at 25%; it comes from take rates being concentrated on higher-fare trips.
source
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.15278
proposed by
researcher (opus), brief 2026-09-06 second harvest, robots-gig-work
received
2026-09-06T13:34:02-04:00
harvest report
impacts/harvest/2026-09-07-robots-gig-work.md

Rulings, in order

  1. 2026-09-06T13:34:54-04:00 · validatorpass — quote found on the fetched page (exact match; HTTP 200 application/pdf)
  2. 2026-09-06T13:38:18-04:00 · sessionnote — Same study, same drivers as p2026-09-07-043 (Uber's surplus per worker hour is the mirror of the pay fall); bands through 043.
The proposal as it arrived (JSON)
{
 "id": "p2026-09-07-045",
 "received": "2026-09-06T13:34:02-04:00",
 "proposer": "researcher (opus), brief 2026-09-06 second harvest, robots-gig-work",
 "kind": "entry",
 "sha": "2e934fba1e430ecd",
 "data": {
  "kind": "entry",
  "tech": "uber-dynamic-pricing",
  "tech_name": "Uber dynamic (upfront) pricing and work allocation",
  "definition": "per-trip fares and driver fees set independently by a system whose inputs include predicted cancellation probability and a deep-neural-network ETA",
  "from": "2023-01",
  "region": "UK",
  "domain": "work",
  "side": "loss",
  "people": {
   "n": 258,
   "unit": "drivers",
   "date": "2024-10"
  },
  "effect": {
   "n": 38,
   "unit": "percent",
   "date": "2024-10",
   "what": "Uber's average surplus per worker hour rose 38%, from £8.47 to £11.70, over the same drivers' labour"
  },
  "reversible": true,
  "switch": "owner:Uber",
  "statistic": "Measured on the same 258 drivers, Uber's average surplus per worker hour (revenue minus driver pay, minus non-driver costs) rose from £8.47 in 2020/01–2022/02 to £11.70 in 2023/03–2024/10, a 38% increase. The authors note this cannot be explained by the mean take rate, which stayed at 25%; it comes from take rates being concentrated on higher-fare trips.",
  "source": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.15278",
  "quote": "has increased by 38%, from an average of £8.47 in the period",
  "attribution": "named",
  "source_kind": "primary"
 },
 "from_file": "impacts/harvest/2026-09-07-robots-gig-work.md"
}