| The Drivers Cooperative | |
| Type: | Worker cooperative |
| Location City: | New York City, New York |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Key People: | Mohammad Hossen, Ken Lewis, Erik Forman. Mohammad Hossen- become the first Elected Board President since December 01,2022. |
| Area Served: | New York City |
| Industry: | transportation, technology |
| Homepage: | drivers.coop |
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]