Considering a 40 hour work week, $21 hour comes out to about $3350 before tax monthly, is that really too low for driving around a car?

It's $42k annually and that's before the insurance, maintenance, depreciation and fuel, so down to the mid-to-high 30's. That seems like it would be poverty level in many California cities.

Not to mention most of those hypothetical 40hrs a week (assuming they can get that much work) would be unsociable hours because that’s when demand is at its greatest (eg people leaving the pub).

Family health insurance costs $24K/yr. Rent is atleast $24K/hr. Those 2 alone will kill you...

> Rent is atleast $24K/hr

Heh. I heard it was bad in CA but wow.

That's a fair point I didn't think about the car maintenance too much.

Neither do most of the drivers, unfortunately. They are going to be the ones holding the bag at the end.

..take a different job then?

> is that really too low for driving around a car?

Depends how you look at it. If you're looking purely at supply and demand of drivers, it's fine. If you think people working 40 hours a week should be able to afford decent housing and health insurance it's probably too low.

I'm not familiar with US salaries I guess it greatly depends on the state/city you're in. But in the UK I don't think this amount is uncommon for some doctors or software developers, especially outside of London.

After tax it's probably closer to $2800, and health insurance is around $600/month for a pretty average plan. For a family of three this leaves you $1000 left over, and even the crappiest one bedrooms in California in small towns start around $1300/month.

Comparing different countries’ wages just isn’t a good comparison. Consider the typical health insurance premium and student loan burden for US workers and you’ll already see why a UK comparison would be apples and oranges.

A 30 minute ride already costs me about $18. I assume an hour ride would be around $40 or so. As a rider I would seriously wonder where those other $19 are going... Not to mention I would still feel the standard pressure to tip.

A 30 minute ride in the Bay Area can be close to $40 (with no peak pricing increases).

You're assuming cab drivers only work 40 hours. That's wildly off base.

I don't follow, is this a "perfect is the enemy of the good" situation where they think the minimum wage should be higher and are opposing a half-step toward that?

For political reasons that can make sense, it's hard to push for a minimum wage bump right after a different one, but I am unaware of other cab companies advocating for a higher minimum wage prior to this.