Would a 1 rideshare fee affect wealthier or working class philadelphians more 2?

A 1 rideshare fee might feel like a small thing, but it can be bigger for some people than others.

Imagine you have two friends: one has lots of toys (like a wealthier person), and the other has just enough to play with (like a working class person). If both friends need to go somewhere, and they each pay 1 extra coin to ride in a toy car, it might not hurt the friend with lots of toys much, but it could make a bigger difference for the friend who only had a few coins to begin with.

What’s a rideshare fee?

A rideshare fee is like an extra cost you pay when you take a special kind of taxi that drives you around, like Uber or Lyft. If this fee goes up by 1, it means every time you ride in one of these cars, you have to give the driver a little more money.

Who feels it more?

If you're wealthier, you might not even notice an extra 1, it's like losing a tiny toy from your collection. But if you're working class, that same 1 could feel bigger, like losing a toy you really need to play with. So the working class might feel the effect of this fee more than the wealthier people.

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Examples

  1. A $1 ride from downtown to the suburbs might be easy for someone who makes $100 an hour, but hard on a student earning minimum wage.
  2. Imagine paying an extra dollar for every trip, it adds up over time for people with lower incomes.
  3. If you work two jobs and take rides often, that extra dollar could feel like a big deal.

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