I drive Uber, would prefer not to, but a quick 40-50 bucks when needed is relatively easy to come by quickly.....other points, riders are neat, learning new things is a treat..but you can tire quickly...

I love driving for Uber and Lyft (with a y) and I've done nearly 500 rides in the three months since I started. In New Orleans, Uber is more popular than Lyft; I get more back-to-back/consistent riders/passengers with Uber; so I do Uber about 98% of the time.

There is a sub-Reddit (group) for Uber drivers. It is extremely informative and helpful and I encourage you to read there for a few days before committing.

I have a full-time job that keeps me self-sufficient, where I can save a bit, and I'm able to have a decent life. As a single income, by driving part time, I can make my life a bit more better in terms of extras I want and not worrying about money for this vacation, that outing, this birthday gift, or that pair of shoes.

Requirements: Newer car; clean driving record; background check; photos of everything (license plate, registration, insurance, yourself, etc.); and keeping track of your maintenance receipts and miles with a mileage app (.54 per mile - I use Mileage IQ) for tax write-offs/deductions.

Things that will help you make more per hour: Clean car; car that smells nice; being friendly; being intuitive about passengers' desire to chat or not; being helpful (with suggestions or knowledge about city); being talkative (if appropriate), genuine and warm.

Markets where you will make more

Cities/towns/areas with larger populations

Cities where public transportation is not so great

College towns

Tourist destination cities/towns

Lots of bars

Sports stadiums

Festivals

Cities with major airport

Convention center with many conferences/conventions

Cities with many hotels

The positives

Absolute flexibility. Just about any other part time gig will give you a schedule for days, arrival time, break times and departure time. Here, ANY time you want to start, take a break, have lunch, or go home, it's as simple as touching "Offline" or "Online."

I take one or two rides after work during the week. I work Friday afternoons and evenings until I get tired, which is usually between 8:30 and 10:30 PM. I work all day Saturday from about 11:00 AM to when I hit my money goal, which is usually between 8:30 and 10:00 PM. On the infrequent occasion, I don't hit goal by Saturday night, I might go back out on Sunday or I might not. It's Jazz Fest here this weekend and next. I fully expect to hit my goal by early Saturday evening both weekends.

It is good part-time money. This is not career, full-time job with benefits money. It's a part-time gig. Getting good tips is helpful in terms of raising "hourly rate." During the week, hourly is nothing to write home about -- but it is not at all as low (in my market) as the MIT study indicates. On the weekends in New Orleans, hourly can range from $20-$40 per hour depending on festivals, events, conventions, etc.

People. Most people are fascinating, friendly, interesting, mannerly, warm, funny, engaging, delightful, intelligent and a joy to talk with -- for 10 or 30 minutes. I love hearing about people's jobs and what they are about. There are so many cool and obscure jobs out there!

Choice: Many people don't know that passengers are rated by drivers. When you get a "ping," it tells you about how far away the passenger is and their passenger rating. I learned the hard way about when and when not to take rides that are too close or too far away. People with low ratings (below a 4.90 on a scale of 1-5) have a low rating for a reason. Which can include being a jerk, not tipping, smelling bad, throwing up in a car, leaving trash in the car, etc. How busy it is and where I am in terms of my goal, etc. determines whether I will accept or decline any ping.

Discrimination is not tolerated. While you can cancel a ride before you get there for any reason or no reason; and while you can cancel a ride upon arrival for no or any reason, what you cannot do is choose which rides you will and will not take based on location. Drivers do not know a passenger's location until they've accepted the ride. If your cancellation rate gets high, the algorithm will stop giving you rides and you'll get notes from the Uber bots by e-mail. If it doesn't improve, it's grounds for deactivation.

Safety. I am not a nervous or fearful person and I don't think you can be to do this job well. I trust humanity (perhaps a bit much sometimes). People have to have a cell phone and a working credit or debit card to use the service, so that weeds out a good majority of the whack-jobs. I have NEVER (in my short three months) felt unsafe in the slightest bit.

The negatives for my market

5% of Passengers. Some people treat the driver as a non-human. Get in the car, don't look up, and barely mutter a word before turning to their phone. Yes, there is a difference between the person who is tired, weary, or wants to relax and the person who apparently thinks the driver is a servant.

College students. Like the Kardashians? They sure do. You'll hear the word "like" more times in one night of driving college kids than you'll hear in a whole year of talking with adults over 30. With few exceptions, college students, especially in groups, come off as entitled spoiled brats. They try to cram five people in the car -- the law says I cannot carry more than four. They slam doors (why???). They NEVER tip. Not even once. College students riding solo or with a parent are nothing like the groups of two or more.

Right wing wackos - I've had three or four who were not as transparent as they thought they were in their bigotry and backwardsness. Nothing hostile or which warranted my giving them a piece of my mind, but enough where I talked to myself the entire ride "Just three more miles.....just four more minutes....gawd I cannot wait till this asshole is out of my car.....whew, she's gone!" Then I rate them a 1. I had a guy a while back, the entire ride to the airport, he went on and on with his superiority, his philanthropy and how he is sure that the problem in America is its lack of religion. He was arrogant and annoying. I was shocked -- shocked, I tell you -- when he tipped $15 on a $25 ride.

My fear of people throwing up:

Even though Uber and Lyft pay the driver (via the passenger credit card) $150 or more for this (and other messes), it is precisely why I do not work late into the night. That and the fact that I try to keep my sleep and rest schedule consistent. I've picked up only four people who were obviously drunk. Only one who actually had to throw up. I gave her a stern, but friendly warning when we started off about not being embarrassed or afraid to tell me. Thankfully she was sitting right next to me (and crying) and when she tapped my leg, I immediately pulled over. She got out, I covered my ears. She came back ready to go party! LOL!

People who smell really bad. Yes, it happens. Smelling like they have been in a smoky bar for four days without fresh air. Smelling like they have been smoking weed for 8 hours straight without a shower or brushing their teeth. The worst smell was a combination of urine and b.o. But, that was only one in almost 500 rides.

Car Maintenance: Maintenance is a pain - in terms of effort and time. The cost will all even out in the end. Getting gas more often; going through the car wash and vacuuming once or twice a week; and keeping car completely empty.

It can be a bit addictive. Sometimes, even after I've hit my goal or I'm tired and hungry, I'll say to myself "Okay, last ride." But, then a ping comes in -- and it's not very far away and I think "Okay, just one more."

To me, the good completely outweighs the bad for this part-time income.

I'll be completely shocked if you've read this far. From here, if you have any other questions or curiosities about rideshare driving, feel free to PM me -- and definitely read up in the sub-Reddit for Uber drivers.

union busting is what it is pure and simple . down goes another reasonably well paid job

Hard to say, I have no experience with either of them.

I drive Uber. It depends on where you live. I live about 45 minutes from 3 pretty big colleges and 3 major cities and a couple of airports. On the weekends alone I can make about 400 dollars for 16 hours of work. Sometimes it’s slower, sometimes faster. You could easily make 1000 a week if you learn all the ins and outs (figure out flights and venues) but you have to think taxes, gas, and wear and tear on car. Forget Uber eats. Not worth it IMO. Skip those. If someone gets sick in your car, as far as I understand, they have to pay for it, but I just have garbage bags, and nothing to bad has happened yet.

Negative experiences:
I did have one really drunk guy touch my face when I was driving home on the highway, and he and the people who procured the ride just were not pleasant. My gut told me from the get I should have left him, which you are allowed to do. I pulled over on the shoulder when he touched me and told him he was walking home if he touched me again. He was more chill after that. He also left his phone, which they have to pay you 15 dollars to exchange at any place you wish, but he never contacted me, so there’s some karmatic money for me as far as I’m concerned. So some stuff happens, and you gotta be prepared for it.

Had another college student get really sick, but he told me he was going to before he did, and I pulled over and let him out, and he took care of business and I gave him a trash bag after that just in case.

I also had a passenger falsely accuse me of driving under the influence and that took a couple days to be resolved, and Uber in moments has made me jump through a couple hoops to keep my account active. Nothing too strenuous, but they are random.

That’s my experience. I’m gonna try Lift soon as well. Good luck!

I have a friend who works for Uber around Boston,MA and he likesit.

I don't know about in your area or what your capacity to do such a thing is but there are also shopping/delivery services like Shipt you might check out. I've also always wanted to check out LiveOps.

I drove Uber because I like people, I like to drive my little PriusC, and I love my city. I made a little money but there was no way I would have been able to support myself with it.

I drive for both occasionally - it's anything but a full-time income for me. I watch carefully because of gas prices being on the rise, a ride might not make financial sense. That said, I'm sitting at home watching for those scheduling rides in advance because I can see the distance they'll need to go, $ earned, etc. I also plan to drive, when I do, on weekends - especially St Patrick's Day. I made damn near $500 that night driving solely for Lyft and didn't have anyone throw up in my car.

You can make a decent supplemental income; but you'd be misled to think you'd do it full-time and replace a $100K income.

I suppose it wouldn’t be bad if it’s a side job while you still bringing something else in, but after a while the expenses eat way too much into what you pocket.

Uber allows food deliver only jobs, if you don't like the idea of driving people.

Hmmm. Strangers in your car. Drunk strangers in your car. I don't see the attraction.

I've also heard very negative things. I suppose it would depend a lot on your area though.

I read an assessment of the economic model of Uber - it didn't turn out to be any better than working for around minimum wage.

Heard and read many articles about it being abysmal, massive time trade off for a pittance wage.