The Drivers Cooperative

Last updated
The Drivers Cooperative
Type Worker cooperative
Industrytransportation, technology
Founded2020 (2020)
Headquarters
New York City, New York
,
United States
Area served
New York City
Key people
Ken Lewis, David Alexis, Erik Forman, Alissa Orlando, Mohammad Hossen
Website drivers.coop

The Drivers Cooperative or Co-Op Ride is an American ridesharing company and mobile app that is a workers cooperative, owned collectively by the drivers. [1] [2] The cooperative launched in May 2020 in New York City, [3] [4] with the first 2,500 drivers issued their ownership certificates in a media event. [5] [6]

The cooperative was co-founded by Grenadan immigrant and for hire vehicle driver Ken Lewis, labor organizer Erik Forman, and former Uber executive Alissa Orlando. [7] [6] [8] Mohammad Hossen is the first member of the drivers' advisory board, which they plan to expand democratically as more drivers are onboarded. [7] [9] Other staff include software and industry veterans and in addition to co-founder Lewis, there are other drivers in management roles such as ex-driver and organizer David Alexis. [9] [8] [10]

The Co-Op Ride app is on the iOS and Android platforms and is built on Google Maps, Stripe, and Waze. [11] By July, the app had been downloaded by 30,000 users and the number of drivers increased to 3,400, [12] and by August there were 40,000 users. [13]

The cooperative is owned by the drivers themselves, and takes 15% from each ride for business overhead costs, as opposed to the 25% to 40% ride hail apps like Uber or Lyft take per ride. [14] [4] [7] [13] [11] While being ultimately owned by the driver members, not by investors, the cooperative began with seed money from the Minnesota-based Community Development Financial Institution Shared Capital Cooperative, [3] the local Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union, [4] [6] and welcomed individual donations via crowdfunding in the form of revenue sharing debt on Wefunder. [12] [13] Each driver is a member of the cooperative and owns one share of the company and one vote in business and leadership decisions. [5] [4] In addition to a larger percentage of the fees per ride driven, each driver as a part-owner will also receive a share of the company's profits after loans and other expenses are paid, in the form of weighted dividends. [5] [4] [13] The drivers use their own cars. [15]

The cooperative vets its owner-members further than what is already performed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), [14] and gives a fixed price when a car is ordered and does not engage in surge pricing. [2] [11] The TLC imposed a minimum payrate for mobile app ridesharing companies operating in New York city in 2018. [4] In 2021 that is $1.26 per mile which Uber and Lyft do not pay above; the cooperative pays a minimum mileage of $1.64. [4] [13] The cooperative intends to be able to set aside 10% of profits to community foundations and other non-profits and community organizations. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ Jones, Sarah (December 22, 2020). "Can a Worker-Owned App Pull Drivers From Uber and Lyft?". Curbed.
  2. 1 2 Akhtar, Allana. "I tried the new ride-hailing app in NYC designed to take driver power back from Uber and Lyft, and although it's still working out some kinks, I was happy to help drivers get more money". Business Insider.
  3. 1 2 "Hailing a new, co-op ride-hailing app owned by drivers". The Riverdale Press. 25 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Toussaint, Kristin (July 15, 2021). "How the Drivers Cooperative built a worker-owned alternative to Uber and Lyft". Fast Company.
  5. 1 2 3 "Driver-Owned Ride-Share Service 'Drivers Cooperative' Launches In New York City". WLNY CBS 10. June 4, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Conger, Kate (May 28, 2021). "A Worker-Owned Cooperative Tries to Compete With Uber and Lyft". The New York Times .
  7. 1 2 3 "New York City Drivers Cooperative Aims to Smash Uber's Exploitative Model". In These Times. 10 December 2020.
  8. 1 2 "In the Drivers' Seat". Dollars & Sense.
  9. 1 2 "Invest in The Drivers Cooperative: A ridehailing platform owned by workers, not billionaire founders and venture capital. | Wefunder". The Drivers Cooperative on Wefunder.
  10. ↑ Verde, Ben (6 October 2021). "Socialist organizer David Alexis announces primary challenge to State Sen. Kevin Parker". Brooklyn Paper.
  11. 1 2 3 "You Can Now Ditch Uber for a Driver-Owned Rideshare App in New York City". Gizmodo. June 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Driver-Owned Uber Alternative Looks to Crowdfund $1 Million". Bloomberg . July 14, 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 "Driver co-op raising $1 million to battle Uber and Lyft". Protocol. August 20, 2021.
  14. 1 2 "New App Aims To Compete With Uber, Lyft While Giving New York Drivers A Living Wage". NPR.
  15. ↑ "When Drivers are in the Drivers' Seat for Taxi and Ride-Hail Companies". nextcity.org.
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