During the winter months, riders tend to venture out less and this can be tough for driver-partners as time spent idle, is time they’re not earning. Over the years, we’ve learned that the single most effective way to help driver-partners get more trips is to cut prices for riders.
Higher demand means driver-partners will spend more of every hour moving people, less time waiting around and, therefore, get more money. This is exactly what happened when we reduced fares in cities such as Lagos, Warsaw, Istanbul, and Perth. The increase in demand meant payments to driver-partners using Uber went up.
Tens of thousands of people across Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban already use Uber to get from A to B. We’re committed to making Uber the most affordable option to move around and our experience shows us we can make that happen while making Uber the best possible platform for driver-partners to earn a living.
While these price cuts are beneficial for riders, they are ultimately designed to help Uber driver-partners. This is because a driver-partner who is logged into the Uber app is doing one of three things: sitting idle while waiting for a trip, on their way to pick up a rider, or carrying a rider to their destination. The third scenario is when a driver-partner is earning a fare.
Alon Lits, general manager for Uber in Sub-Saharan Africa, explains, “We are committed to making Uber the most affordable option to move around. That being said, we know that this period is considered a slow time for driver-partners and through experience, we know price cuts help both riders and driver-partners.”
“It's important that Uber remains an attractive option for driver-partners - without them, we can’t help keep our South African cities moving. We believe these changes will help, but while each city adjusts to the new prices, we are putting in place minimum payment guarantees for driver-partners. And if the amount driver-partners make on the road isn't what we expect, we’ll reassess this price change.”
Uber is all about making sure people have a convenient, safe and affordable ride at the push of a button. With these changes, Uber hopes that even more people in each of the cities we operate will choose to leave their car at home and let Uber help them get where they need to be.
