University of California Institute of Transportation Studies

Transportation network companies (TNCs) play an increasingly prominent role providing on-demand mobility for consumers across California. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted and are implementing Senate Bill 1014 (Clean Miles Standard), which establishes an annual increase in the percent of zero-emission passenger miles traveled and greenhouse (GHG) emission reduction targets for TNCs. This regulation requires TNC drivers to acquire and operate an electric vehicle (EV). In collaboration with the Rideshare Drivers United, a grassroots driver advocacy group, we collected data to understand the total cost of EV ownership for TNC drivers. This included two TNC driver group discussions, ten expert interviews, an in-depth driver survey (n=436), and a dataset of 150 million TNC trips from the CPUC. The driver survey was distributed in December 2023 and April 2024, investigating driver perceptions and any changes to their driving due to operating an EV. The CPUC dataset reports trip-level TNC activities from September 2019 to October 2020, including data on trip location, time, driver pay, and other variables. We also evaluated vehicle price and fuel economy data to investigate the economic feasibility of purchasing, leasing, or renting EVs for ridehailing use. One of our key metrics is the net TNC driver earnings, or the total TNC income subtracted by service fees, fuel costs, monthly vehicle payments, etc.