New York City's Minimum Wage Law for Rideshare Drivers

New York City's new minimum pay rules for rideshare drivers were intended to boost driver income, but in reality, some say it may be having the exact opposite effect. Take the rideshare company Juno for example—which is currently suing city regulators over the new pay rules—filed court documents showing that their bookings are down some 30 percent for the month of February (when the new pay rules went into effect) and that average hourly compensation has fallen by 17 percent. "Costs have increased for riders, demand for Juno's services has decreased, and hourly earnings for Juno's drivers have fallen," reads a memorandum filed by Juno, which warns that these effects "will only get worse" so long as the rules remain in place. Juno performs about 5 percent of rideshare rides in New York City, compared to about 20 percent for Lyft and 70 percent for Uber. Lyft, which is also suing New York City regulators, reports that they, too, are seeing a decline in rides booked though their app, although it has not been as severe as the hit reported by Juno. Lyft estimates that the city's rideshare industry could see a $50 million decline in bookings in 2019. In August of last year, the New York City Council passed a bill requiring the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to come up with pay standards that would raise drivers' earnings to $17.22 an hour. In December, the TLC did just that, issuing new driver pay rules built around a complicated formula that factors in an individual trip's time and length as well as a company's utilization rate (the amount of time drivers actually have a passenger in the car.)