Ridehail firms like Uber should publish data to highlight unpaid mileage and congestion impact, says campaigners
A new report from campaigners Worker Info Exchange (WIE) suggests that a regulatory failure to secure public access to gig economy data is masking significant issues in London, including £2 billion in ‘wage theft’, safety issues, and rising carbon emissions.
As Uber's licence renewal approaches, the report calls on the Secretary of State for Transport, the Mayor of London, and Transport for London (TfL) to make data transparency a condition for renewal.
The report argues that the UK lags behind international standards where cities like New York and Seattle require gig economy platforms to share data with local authorities. This data is crucial for enforcing transport, safety, environmental, and employment laws.
The report suggests inefficiencies in the gig economy, where drivers are often misclassified and unpaid for waiting time. This, it claims, leads to fatigue and increases safety risks. The WIE research goes on to add that the gig economy’s 5.1 billion annual vehicle miles also contributes to congestion and emissions, with 2 billion of these miles driven by workers searching for jobs, unpaid.
Uber has responded by stating that they comply with all regulations and that many drivers use multiple platforms, earning on other apps when not working with Uber. The company also pointed to the growing number of electric vehicles on its platform as evidence of its commitment to reducing emissions.
An Uber spokesperson told TaxiPoint: "More drivers and couriers are choosing to earn on Uber than ever before and we know that the vast majority are satisfied with their experience. All drivers in the UK receive worker rights such as a pension and holiday pay, with average earnings topping £30 per hour. Drivers want the choice to work for multiple apps, meaning that when they are not taking trips on Uber they are regularly earning on other apps."
However, the debate over data transparency remains. The WIE's report suggests that without public access to data, the true scale of the gig economy's impact on wages, safety, and the environment will remain concealed, to the detriment of London’s workers and residents.
James Farrar, Director of Worker Info Exchange, said: “In failing to secure public access to gig economy transport data, regulators in Britain have fallen far behind international regulatory norms. Gig economy platform companies now operate at such a surprisingly large scale on our public streets that we need to think of them more of as public utilities. High standards of data transparency are necessary so that all app-based transport services can be more effectively regulated to ensure safety and environmental compliance as well as for the fair treatment of workers, customers and host communities.”
Zamir Dreni, Chair of App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) London said: “ADCU welcomes this report and urges TFL and the Mayor to take on board its findings and implement its recommendations across all operators as their licences come up for renewal. The lack of transparency for ADCU and TFL over driver data is a double whammy for the industry and puts London to the back of the line compared to major cities across the globe when it comes to regulating this industry. It helps operators in their ongoing wage theft at the same time as concealing the data on congestion and emissions from TFL that stems from dangerous over working forced on drivers.”
Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association, said: “In London, we’ve repeatedly seen Uber in particular failing to be transparent with regulators about their operations and even actively concealing practices which compromised passenger safety in the past. Robust public data sharing should be a condition of any operator’s licence and TfL must make this a priority to address the serious issues laid bare in this report. Without access to this data, regulators are left working in the dark – unable to protect public interests and to design and implement effective policies to ensure the gig economy is not doing more harm than good.
“This report’s shocking findings are likely just the tip of the iceberg and underline the urgent need for proper public data sharing to ensure the gig economy’s operations are not having a detrimental impact on workers, public health and safety and the environment. Robust public data sharing should be a condition of any operator’s licence and TfL must make this a priority to address the serious issues laid bare in this report.”
