Dulles, VA – May 1, 2023: With Uber set to announce its first quarter earnings on Tuesday, and the company hoping to continue its acceleration away from rival Lyft, new mobile insights data shows it is new female drivers that has helped the company recover from the pandemic. This includes the addition of roughly 400,00 female drivers since May 2020 (the lowest point during the pandemic).

The data, from mobile-powered consumer intelligence company GWS, tracked the behavior and use of drivers on the likes of Uber Driver, Lyft Driver, and other rideshare apps. The findings demonstrate the success of Uber’s focus on providing more opportunities for women to find flexible employment:

Uber leaves Lyft on the curb

  • Both Uber Driver and Lyft Driver usage dropped substantially after February 2020 when the pandemic began, but while Uber Driver has now recovered to pre-pandemic levels, Lyft Driver usage has not come close to hitting its pre-COVID highs
  • Uber is currently averaging 1.4 million daily users on its U.S. driver app, similar to its pre-pandemic levels
  • Lyft, however, has seen the 800 thousand daily users of its driver app before the pandemic crash by 50% to just 400 thousand today
  • Lyft’s decline began pre-pandemic with its high of 1.1 million daily drivers achieved back in January 2019, falling to 800 thousand by January 2020
  • In terms of riders, data shows that Uber had 50% more daily riders than Lyft over the last 10 months (since May 2022).

Women drivers close gap on men

  • In March 2019, male drivers across all driver apps exceeded females by nearly 2:1 (1.9 million to 1.0 million). However, the gap narrowed substantially by March 2023 with now 2.3 million male drivers to 2 million women
  • Female driver app users now exceed men at the younger categories (18-24 and 25-34). They also only narrowly trail behind men in the 35-44 bracket
  • However, when looking at drivers over the age of 45, men continue to dominate, substantially leading women in terms of total users

Dr Paul Carter, CEO of GWS commented: “The mobile-powered gig-economy is now back on strong footing after pandemic lows and driver shortages hampered success in recent years. Uber’s ability to attract new drivers, and in particular female drivers, has been core to the success of its ride sharing and delivery business. This is indicative of a wider trend in our economy. Smartphones have not just transformed behavior on the consumer side but have also empowered new groups to find flexible employment. This has allowed businesses like Uber to diversify its offering from rides to deliveries, with Uber Eats. Only through an understanding of the behavior and motivations of workers who have powered the rideshare revolution and wider gig-economy, can businesses operating in this space hope to keep pace long term. For Uber, success begins with the smartphone and an understanding of what brings consumers and workers onto their apps.”

Methodology

Usage data was extracted from GWS’s U.S. One Measure Consumer Panel (OMCP). The OMCP is an opt-in consumer panel that measures mobile app usage and content, mobile network performance, and consumer perceptions. The OMCP collects consumer data anonymously from Android smartphones 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whenever and wherever consumers use their devices. OMCP panelists (aged 18+) are recruited from the top 41 metropolitan areas across the US along with consumers located in less populated areas (overall covering 98% of the U.S. population). Approximately 54 million data points are generated daily by panelists. Data is anonymously collected and reported in aggregate for market research purposes only. All information collected is weighted to a user’s demographic representation of the U.S. adult population.

Driver apps include: Dasher, Grubhub for Drivers, Lyft Driver, Point Pickup Driver, Roadie Driver, Spark Driver, Uber Driver

Media Contact
Adam Hudson
Diffusion PR
[email protected]

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