- Jayla, a single mom, switched from being an Uber and Lyft driver to a school bus driver for stability.
- Despite consistent hours, her earnings from gig driving dropped over two years, leading her to seek steadier employment.
Jayla, 28, spent two years driving for Uber and Lyft and struggled to find stable housing and provide for herself and her son. But after switching jobs and becoming a bus driver in late 2023, she's now living in her own apartment.
The single mother, who moved to Akron, Ohio, from Houston in 2023, said finding housing or getting a new vehicle was a struggle as a 1099 employee. She spent two years living in various shelters. Her earnings from Lyft and Uber also declined over the two years of driving, even though she drove a consistent 40 hours a week, and after failing to get accepted into Lyft’s rental program, she decided to look for more stable work.
After landing a bus driver position and a W2, she secured an apartment in Akron despite no luck in Texas. She said the new job gives her more freedom to take college classes and works better with her son’s day care.
“This job is stable. With Lyft and Uber, that’s not stable. Nobody was looking at it like I had a job,” Jayla said.
Jayla is one of many gig drivers looking for more stable work after many say competition is growing and drivers earn less per ride. For many Americans, particularly single parents and those with disabilities, gig driving is among the only options to make money, and many are searching for other opportunities with less rigid hours and benefits.
Some are planning to walk out from driving on February 14 to protest for higher pay and pay transparency. Uber said in a statement to BI that protests haven't greatly impacted prices and driver availability, adding that most drivers are satisfied with their pay.
Lyft recently announced that drivers must get 70% of what customers pay weekly when accounting for tips and bonuses. About 15% of drivers do not receive this 70%, Lyft said, and the company committed to covering the difference to improve pay for drivers. Still, Lyft said the median driver who uses a personal vehicle pulls in a net $23.46 per engaged hour, accounting for tips, bonuses, and expenses. Engaged hours only include the time drivers drive to a rider's pickup spot or take them to their destination.
Driving for Lyft and Uber
In 2018, Jayla began working as a corrections officer in Texas a few years before having her son. The pay was decent, she said, and she could live somewhat comfortably after high school. She had to leave her position since the long and unpredictable hours didn’t match what she needed to care for her son, who was born in 2021.
Jayla began driving for Uber and Lyft two years ago to continue paying her bills. For these two years, she lived in a domestic violence shelter and a shelter for low-income residents, as she couldn’t afford an apartment and the costs of raising a kid. Because of her income, she said she qualified for day care for her son, though money was still tight. She drove while her son was in daycare, typically between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
“It was flexible for me since I could pick my own hours and be my own boss,” Jayla said. “I don’t have to listen to someone telling me to go take a break. It worked out for me.”
Over the two years, she maintained a five-star rating by speaking to all her riders and doing small favors for customers like adding a stop. She said maintaining a high rating came with benefits from the ride-hailing companies, such as new tires or oil changes, though she said it was difficult to redeem these.
When she started having problems with her car, it was difficult for her to keep paying all her car maintenance bills, so she applied for Lyft Express Drive, Lyft’s rental program through Hertz and Flexdrive. She was put on a waitlist and never heard back, and Jayla decided it wasn’t worth it to continue waiting.
“My profile says five stars, as well as the years and months I’ve been there, and I thought they should try to accommodate or something, but it was none of that,” Jayla said.
She said one of the reasons she looked for more stable employment was that she kept getting denied for a new car because she only had 1099 forms and not a W2, even though she said she made a gross total of $700-$900 a week on average, working 40 hours a week.
She said she had noticed her earnings for Lyft and Uber fall over the last two years. She recalled a passenger paying $100 for a ride, but she only pocketed $40 before tips.
She knew that getting an apartment would take years in Houston, so she applied for low-income housing through the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority and got an apartment a year later after securing a W2.
Becoming a school bus driver
She decided to become a school bus driver as she could work morning and afternoon shifts while working around her son’s day care schedule. She applied for a Commercial Driver License to operate a school bus and started her new role last December. The same day she applied, she was hired as a bus driver for her local Akron school district.
Jayla said the training has been enjoyable, and the hours are flexible and accommodating, given her route and her son’s day care are a few minutes from her house. Her pay is better than what she estimated pulling in from Lyft and Uber, and she said she gets more medical benefits through Ohio’s Medicaid program.
She said the biggest advantage of bus driving was getting a W2 form, which allowed her to successfully apply for low-income housing in Akron. She had tried to apply for more stable housing but had no luck as a 1099 worker. She said she’s only paying $200 a month in rent while in training, which will jump to a stable $500 a month when she starts her job, given her rent fluctuates based on her earnings.
She said switching to bus driving has allowed her to enroll in college for social work, as she can take classes between or after her split shift, given her income is more consistent. She hopes that in two to four years, she can become a full-time social worker while raising her child.
“Everything is working out for me at the moment,” Jayla said. “For Lyft, it was a challenge with housing and trying to get another vehicle. Now, in a month or two, I could say that I’ve got a W2 form, now let me try to get a new car.”
Are you a rideshare driver who is struggling to pay bills? If you'd like to share your story, reach out to nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.