Lots of drivers have been in touch asking about whether average order distances are getting longer. The short answer is, yes, it looks that way.

We ran the numbers for bicycle, moped and car drivers and it does indeed look like there has been a gradual increase in the average distance of orders.

Comparing this year with last we see that all vehicle types are on average having to travel 10-20% farther to complete orders, particularly those people in cars.

What does this mean for fees?

As we have discussed before, fees have been decreasing across all platforms including Uber.

Combined with longer orders this means that £/mile has been falling even faster with bicycle riders seeing the biggest drops.

Put another way an order with the same distance is paying much less in 2024 than it did in 2023.

How is this possible?

Until a few years ago Uber, like some other platforms, had transparent formulas to show how much drivers would earn for each mile, as well as pick-up and drop-off. Drivers were told when there were any changes in these numbers.

These days however, Uber does not explain how fees are calculated. It is simply a dynamic algorithm which decides what fee to offer for a job. This means it can be changed without anyone being informed.

With large numbers of drivers being added to the Uber platform and few controls over whether drivers are complying with legal requirements this has enabled fees to be continuously eroded over time.

We believe that drivers deserve transparency over fees. All platforms should explain how fees are calculated and tell drivers when the fee structure is changed.