I tried a stint of Uber driving for about 200 rides in New Orleans. I averaged ~ $14 per hour. It should be noted that 3–6 hours of weekend work during surge is what made this average. I could easily make 22–30$ per hour during those prime hours which offset the 10$ per hour I’d earn on the other 10–15 hours throughout the week. I eventually discontinued driving due to this.

I did not need Uber for the money, but I did attribute a value to my time and effort. When I could make $150 on a Friday night, but then take 3 weekdays to make that same amount it lowered my motivation to drive on weekdays. I had a 5.0 rating, but being nice to my passengers, having to be social, saying and doing all the right things, and having strangers in my car was not worth $10 per hour. This doesn’t even include considerations for expenses, spending time to clean my car regularly, wear and tear on my vehicle, or management of the business. It definitely does not consider all the events in New Orleans of which some are a pain in the ass to drive to or pickup from.

So great - just drive on weekends you say….problem solved. Yeah except weekend passengers suck. They are either drunk, obnoxious, commiserating to the fact that I am driving when I should be having fun, or expressing disappointment in that I don’t know of every single restaurant in the city.