The Drivers Cooperative

The Drivers Cooperative or Co-Op Ride is an American ridesharing company and mobile app that is a workers cooperative, owned collectively by the drivers.^[1][2] The cooperative launched in May 2020 in New York City ,^[3][4] with the first 2,500 drivers issued their ownership certificates in a media event.^[5][6]

The cooperative was co-founded by Grenadan immigrant and for hire vehicle driver Ken Lewis, labor organizer Erik Forman, and former Uber executive Alissa Orlando.^[7][6][8] Mohammad Hossen is the first member of the drivers' advisory board, which they plan to expand democratically as more drivers are onboarded.^[7][9] Other staff include software and industry veterans and in addition to co-founder Lewis, there are other drivers in management roles such as ex-driver and organizer David Alexis.^[9][8][10]

The Co-Op Ride app is on the iOS and Android platforms and is built on Google Maps, Stripe, and Waze.^[11] By July, the app had been downloaded by 30,000 users and the number of drivers increased to 3,400,^[12] and by August there were 40,000 users.^[13]

The cooperative is owned by the drivers themselves, and takes 15% from each ride for business overhead costs, as opposed to the 25% to 40% ride hail apps like Uber or Lyft take per ride.^{[14][4][7][13][11]} While being ultimately owned by the driver members, not by investors, the cooperative began with seed money from the Minnesota-based Community Development Financial Institution Shared Capital Cooperative,^[3] the local Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union,^[4][6] and welcomed individual donations via crowdfunding in the form of revenue sharing debt on Wefunder.^[12][13] Each driver is a member of the cooperative and owns one share of the company and one vote in business and leadership decisions.^[5][4] In addition to a larger percentage of the fees per ride driven, each driver as a part-owner will also receive a share of the company's profits after loans and other expenses are paid, in the form of weighted dividends.^[5][4][13] The drivers use their own cars.^[15]

The cooperative vets its owner-members further than what is already performed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC),^[14] and gives a fixed price when a car is ordered and does not engage in surge pricing.^[2][11] The TLC imposed a minimum payrate for mobile app ridesharing companies operating in New York city in 2018.^[4] In 2021 that is $1.26 per mile which Uber and Lyft do not pay above; the cooperative pays a minimum mileage of $1.64.^[4][13] The cooperative intends to be able to set aside 10% of profits to community foundations and other non-profits and community organizations.^[4]

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