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Workers and the Post-COVID Transportation Gig Economy

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Pandemic in the Metropolis

Part of the book series: Springer Tracts on Transportation and Traffic ((STTT,volume 20))

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the demand for ride-hailing services but saw a sharp increase in e-commerce, grocery, and restaurant delivery services. As the economy recovers and demand increases, several issues are emerging. The tension between companies that wish to keep drivers as independent contractors, but which hope that large enough numbers of them return to the industry, and drivers who increasingly demand to be considered as employees will likely lead to more attractive labor contracts, and perhaps even unionization in the future. Prices for ride-hailing and delivery services are increasing rapidly, rendering the savings relative to the now mostly defunct taxi industry and traditional package delivery industries near zero. While that will lead to a reduction in demand, no one knows how much that reduction will be and how long it will last. This chapter addresses three overarching themes dominating analyses of these industries. The first is labor, the second safety, and the third environmental impacts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gridwise is a free app for workers in the gig economy which helps them get more rideshare or delivery pings, and has features that allow them to track their mileage, compare earnings across platforms, etc. Sherpashare is also an app for ride-hailing drivers that offers them some financial management tools, allows them to track mileage, analyze their expenses, etc.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science and Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Amelia Regan

  2. Centre for Transport Studies, University College London, London, England

    Nicola Christie

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  1. Amelia Regan
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  2. Nicola Christie
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Correspondence to Amelia Regan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

  2. EECS, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Alexandre M. Bayen

  3. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Giovanni Circella

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    R. Jayakrishnan

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Regan, A., Christie, N. (2023). Workers and the Post-COVID Transportation Gig Economy. In: Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Bayen, A.M., Circella, G., Jayakrishnan, R. (eds) Pandemic in the Metropolis. Springer Tracts on Transportation and Traffic, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-00148-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-00148-2_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-00148-2

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