BUSINESS
The scarcity of service in Maricopa has given all three the freedom to make a living on their own terms. They all agree there’s more work available than they can handle. Drivers make more money than if they used the rideshare apps and customers save money by negotiating a cheaper price than they could get on the apps. While dealing privately with citizens from Maricopa, none of them had horror stories to share. “Maricopa is a good place full of nice people,” Valencia said. “I can’t remember the last time I had a problem.” Dick agreed. “I know all these people I work with. I know them, they know me. We both know what we’re getting.” On YouTube, there are countless videos of rideshare customers acting foolish across the nation. And every time a driver gets out of line, there’s a story in the news about it. With this model, the drivers know their customers and the customers know they’re going to get professional service. Dick, Harris and Valencia all drive new, perfectly clean cars.
Len Sherman, a professor at the Columbia Business School, analyzed data from Yippit and Gridwise, firms that monitor customer behavior, along with hard statistical financial data in December. He estimated Uber’s take rate for the third quarter of 2023 at 40% for transactions in the U.S. Uber vehemently denied that finding and insisted its take rate was 21%. However, in the same statement, Uber admitted it doesn’t release a take rate for North America. Instead, 21% represented global transactions. Last spring, Investopedia estimated Uber’s take rate to be 27%. Lyft reported its take rate to be 33%. Regardless what the companies say their numbers are, this is more than a statistical argument for Harris. He’s doing this for a living. And making this kind of living in Maricopa presents a unique challenge. “The problem is, they don’t pay enough for traffic,” Harris said. “If you are leaving Maricopa, you’re getting $30 to go to the airport and privately, I get $60.”
Harris said Uber pays 12 cents a minute for wait time and if you get stuck on State Route 347 in bad traffic, you’re losing money. “They’re only paying you $7.20 an hour to wait,” Harris said. “When you figure the cost of gas on that, the numbers don’t work.” The rides available in Maricopa are slim and the number of drivers in Maricopa even more so. When trying to figure out which problem caused the other, it’s the classic question of what came first, the chicken or the egg. Harris said it comes down to money. The problem with using a rideshare app is that all the rides are leaving Maricopa and few, if any, ever come back. While you might make a decent fare on the way up there, getting back likely means you drive the length of 347 without making any money. “I call those dead drives,” Harris said. “There’s no one in the car.” A new ecosystem blooms Shortcomings in the rideshare space have created a market for people like Dick, Harris and Valencia.
And they put a premium on promptness. “I hate being late,” Valencia said. “I don’t like being around people who make me late. When someone calls me wanting a ride, they have expectations that I will be on time, and I don’t disappoint.” A bite to eat An important part of the rideshare industry is food delivery. At first it was dominated by DoorDash, but as the pandemic shut down “I don’t like being around peo- ple who make me late. When someone calls me wanting a ride, they have expectations that I will be on time, and I don’t disappoint.” ARTHUR VALENCIA
Christina Dick, the owner of Sonoran Shuttle and Concierge has recently expanded her offerings to include a wait service to let in repair people so homeowners don’t have to take a day off from work to do so themselves.
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