{"id":183936,"date":"2025-12-14T22:52:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T22:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/183936\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T22:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T22:52:08","slug":"uber-rival-aride-to-launch-with-1500-drivers-and-no-surge-pricing-says-founder-daniel-lowe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/183936\/","title":{"rendered":"Uber rival aRide to launch with 1500 drivers and no surge pricing, says founder Daniel Lowe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second stage of his self-funded effort involved recruiting drivers through Facebook groups like the 10,000-member \u201cAride, Bolt, Uber, DiDi, (New Zealand)\u201d – which recently added the name of Lowe\u2019s company to its title, in something of a mark of his progress.<\/p>\n

As of late last week, Lowe told the Herald, he had recruited 1573 drivers.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now counting down to the third stage: aRide\u2019s commercial launch, scheduled for this Wednesday, assuming some last-minute software glitches can be ironed out.<\/p>\n

Lowe says aRide is set to launch in the following centres:<\/p>\n

Whang\u0101reiAucklandTaurangaTaup\u014dRotoruaGisborneHamiltonNew PlymouthNapier\/Hasting\/Havelock NorthPalmerston NorthK\u0101pitiWellingtonNelsonChristchurchQueenstownDunedinInvercargill<\/p>\n

aRide will price match whichever service \u2013 Bolt, DiDi or Uber \u2013 in each location, Lowe says. There will be no surge pricing, bar New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

In Wellington \u2013 where Lowe says DiDi is the cheapest option \u2013 aRide will match DiDi with a \u201cdistance discount\u201d for longer rides (see the newcomer\u2019s full pricing here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The most drivers (702) have been signed up in Auckland, Lowe says, followed by Wellington (285) and Canterbury (199).<\/p>\n

Lowe\u2019s short-term target is 3000 drivers to keep wait times to a minimum. He\u2019ll have to keep an eye on whether Uber uses short-term incentives to keep drivers loyal, or incentise those with two or three apps installed to favour its service.<\/p>\n

Up against a $400m incumbent<\/p>\n

The NYSE-listed Uber \u2013 through its own rideshare business and others it part-owns like DiDi and Lime \u2013 is a huge business, with a US$178 billion market cap.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s growing locally, too. Last year, the combined revenue of Uber Eats NZ and Uber NZ increased from $365.2 million to $403.m<\/a> as Indian rideshare giant Ola folded sticks and exited New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Can he win where Ola, Zoomy, others failed?<\/p>\n

Lowe was an admirer of homegrown rideshare insurgent Zoomy, which was backed by the Rich List Spencer family and recruited (by its own count) 3536 drivers by taking just a 15% clip of the ticket on each ride. <\/p>\n

Zoomy hit a wall mid-Covid (though its technology found a new life after it was acquired by TaxiCharge, and used to help power an app for the traditional industry).<\/p>\n

\"UpperUpper Hutt posse: The “aRide” branding Lowe will use for his nationwide push against Uber.<\/p>\n

DriveHer, founded in 2018, had two angles: it was local, and had a team of women-only drivers and a policy that only female passengers could ride in the front seat. It was closed in 2021.<\/p>\n

Like Zoomy, aRide will push that it\u2019s made in NZ.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll pay drivers more, reinvest in the economy and pay tax here when we make a profit,\u201d Lowe says (Uber has reported a loss and accordingly not paid tax<\/a> for most years of its operation in NZ).<\/p>\n

Luring drivers<\/p>\n

Lowe says aRide will take a 30% cut, so drivers will keep 70% of a passenger\u2019s fare, \u201ccompared to as low as 53.35% with Uber\u201d.<\/p>\n

Commerce Commission chairman John Small recently said on LinkedIn \u2013 in a post designed to spark interest in Uber rivals \u2013 \u201cUber takes 28% of the fare [for a GST registered driver], against 20% for Bolt and DiDi\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lowe says there\u2019s a \u201ctotal fare\u201d nuance that distorts those numbers.<\/p>\n

He says a sore point for Uber drivers is that part of the fare a customer pays is a \u201cconvenience charge\u201d that is paid directly to Uber, then the driver keeps a cut of the remaining fare. <\/p>\n

\"LoweLowe says aRide will price match the cheapest rideshare opertor in every centre.<\/p>\n

Uber has not released a figure for its number of drivers in NZ, but Lowe \u2013 as a veteran of various driver groups on social media \u2013 reckons it\u2019s about 11,000, or around 20,000 if Uber Eats drivers are included (drivers cannot work for both Uber services).<\/p>\n

Supreme Court shifts the landscape<\/p>\n

Unlike Zoomy or DriveHer, Lowe doesn\u2019t have lockdowns to contend with, and he says the New Zealand-owned argument has more resonance now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve become more conscious consumers now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But he has \u2013 at least in the immediate future \u2013 a potentially more challenging employment landscape.<\/p>\n

Uber\u2019s decision not to hire drivers as employees has annoyed unions, and some drivers, but also given new market entrants a ready-made pool of contractors.<\/p>\n

Many drivers will also install a newcomer\u2019s app. aRide has the same vehicle requirements, so they\u2019re instantly good to go.<\/p>\n

But on November 17, the Supreme Court upheld<\/a> a 2024 Court of Appeal ruling that found four Uber drivers were employees rather than contractors.<\/p>\n

While the judgment only applies to the four drivers, the Workers First Union said it was a landmark decision that paved the way for thousands of union members to pursue full employment rights, including restitution for historical underpayment of wages and entitlements.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched that case very closely,\u201d Lowe said.<\/p>\n

In his view, \u201cMost rideshare drivers don\u2019t want to be employees. They don\u2019t want set shifts. They want flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that only one in 20 drivers is unionised proves his point, he says.<\/p>\n

A union spokesman told the Herald, \u201cWorkers First has just over 1000 Uber members \u2013 about 150 Uber Eats to 850 Uber drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cOur database still hasn\u2019t processed some new joins from last week. We\u2019ve had an influx of new memberships from drivers who want to join the backpay\/entitlement claim following the Supreme Court decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowe sees the Supreme Court decision being quickly superseded by a pending law change.<\/p>\n

The Employment Relations Amendment Bill, introduced in July and now in the select committee stage, proposes that workers be classified as independent contractors if they are not restricted from working for others, not required to work at certain hours or for a minimum period and can subcontract work.<\/p>\n

First Union says the law change will \u201censhrine worker misclassification in law on behalf of companies like Uber\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lowe says, \u201cThe average driver wants to be a contractor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald\u2019s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second stage of his self-funded effort involved recruiting drivers through Facebook groups like the 10,000-member \u201cAride, Bolt,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[104028,17248,95,116454,138,44547,18829,15211,311,71,4507,3331,90760,1362,111,139,7805,69,9366,116455,1041,312,1515,2044,61,7489,102,8598],"class_list":["post-183936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-104028","tag-17248","tag-and","tag-aride","tag-business","tag-corporate","tag-daniel","tag-drivers","tag-founder","tag-from","tag-late","tag-launch","tag-lowe","tag-made","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-no","tag-nz","tag-pricing","tag-redundant","tag-rival","tag-says","tag-surge","tag-time","tag-to","tag-uber","tag-with","tag-worst"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}