Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

Re:Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh Thi... by dilap on Thursday August 18, 2016 @09:53AM (#12312451)

Hmm, I'm not so sure.

First, Uber drivers are already not making much. Drivers I've talked to here in SF say they are near $15/hour (though they can more in the form of bonuses if they hit certain hours-driven targets).

Second, the job of a passive driver will actually be both more boring and harder -- you have to pay attention while doing nothing, but be ready to take over in a second. It's like being a passenger, except you can't distract yourself in anyway. I'd much rather just drive.

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Re:Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh Thi... by technofiend on Thursday August 18, 2016 @10:29AM (#12312724)

Your example of San Francisco is an outlier - there's too much upward pressure on wages there to let driving compensation fall too low.

Let's have the same conversation about Minneapolis, Dallas, St. Paul, Austin, Kansas City, etc. Austin is a great example of a city with a lot of unemployement and underemployment due to the massive student population. Can't you imagine a college student riding around listening to lectures on the radio (assuming they're actually trying to do their job) for $8/hr? I can. And I can see the next student saying "I'll do it for $7.50".

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Re:Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh Thi... by 794CD01 on Thursday August 18, 2016 @11:08AM (#12313041)

Unfortunately the current favored presidential candidate wants to make that situation illegal by raising the federal minimum wage to 12 or more.

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Re:Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh Thi... by Nutomic on Thursday August 18, 2016 @12:18PM (#12313780)

Unfortunately?

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Re:Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh Thi... by aianus on Thursday August 18, 2016 @12:16PM (#12313756)

I don't think the federal minimum wage applies to contractors sitting around waiting for the next job. The revenue while the clock is running is way above minimum wage.

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Re:Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh Thi... by kamaal on Thursday August 18, 2016 @02:57PM (#12315335)

I certainly wouldn't like someone doing as focus demanding activity as studying while driving.

Seems like a perfect situation for an accident.

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Re:Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh Thi... by fps on Friday August 19, 2016 @08:35AM (#12319563)

Drivers ed instructors, which is basically what supervising a self driving car is, are $14/hour average: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Driving_Instructor/H... I think this is higher than what uber is paying now.

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