A Transportation Network Company (TNC), sometimes called a ride-hailing service, offers point-to-point transportation to the public by employing drivers as sub-contractors who are, most commonly, working part-time using their own vehicles. Uber and Lyft are the most common examples. Use of TNCs has grown tremendously, reducing use of public transit. Because there is a lot of deadheading, using a ride hailing service has a bigger GHG emission cost than using a personal vehicle.
Seattle does regulate TNCs, and has also levied a tax of 57 cents for each trip originating in Seattle. Revenue from the tax supports affordable housing near transit, as well as funding an independent driver resolution center. The city has rules that apply to TNCs, and requirements on the vehicles they use. And Seattle passed a new law in 2020, that phases in minimum wage for drivers in 2021.
Seattle's TNC drivers are represented by Teamster Local 117, which also represents Seattle's taxicab drivers.
Lyft has committed to going electric by 2030, and is no longer offsetting its emissions. Here's another article on that. Here's their plan for how to do it.
The pandemic has hit the ride hailing services hard. Both Uber and Lyft have had layoffs this spring, and in Seattle Uber had a 70% drop in rides in early March. Teamster Local 117 has been pushing for some form of coronavirus relief from the City of Seattle.
What We Learned from 100 Million Miles of Ridehailing Data from Rocky Mountain Institute, explains many of the hurdles to rideshare electrification.
Ridehailing Drivers Will Go Electric – If We Build the Charging Stations
This article in Nature is a deep dive into TNC use in California, exploring the benefits of electrification.
This paper explores the carbon cost of ride hailing.
In London, Uber levies a fee of 15p per mile, with the proceeds going to a fund to help drivers upgrade to electric.
Seattle's Uber and Lyft Drivers Make $23.25 an Hour—or $9.73.
This article from The Urbanist has an interesting set of policy proposals: How to Combat Ridehailing's Ills.
Taking An Uber or Lyft Just Makes Everything Worse. If that's behind a paywall for you, try: Who's Paying for Your Uber? Both of these are write ups of the same original study, Air Pollution, Greenhouse Gas, and Traffic Externality Benefits and Costs of Shifting Private Vehicle Travel to Ridesourcing Services.