For the past six months, rideshare drivers in California have been working under a new model that gives them historic new benefits and protections: a healthcare stipend of up to $4,800 per year, workplace injury protections, and a minimum earnings guarantee, all while ensuring that drivers keep what they want most: flexibility and independence. That’s because last November, a broad, bipartisan coalition of California voters, and most importantly California drivers, overwhelmingly passed Proposition 22, and in doing so helped protect hundreds of thousands of earnings opportunities in the state.

Though we’re just over six months in, early survey data shows that 4 out of 5 drivers are happy Prop 22 passed and 75% believe it created a better future for California drivers. More than 3 in 4 drivers agree that Prop 22 benefits them personally. 

Same flexibility, more benefits

Drivers in California are already seeing the impact of this new model. While more than 77% of  drivers on the Lyft platform already have health coverage from another source, the new stipend is cutting costs for drivers and helping more of them get coverage. 

Shavon, Los Angeles

“I have a teenage son with a disability and a daughter. They come first. Driving lets me take care of my children whenever I need to, and now with the new healthcare stipend, I'm able to pay for my family's health needs while driving whenever I want."

Eliezer, Los Angeles

“I’m a single father. My daughter is 14 years old and spending quality time with her is imperative. Life is unpredictable, and sometimes emergencies happen. Having the flexibility to create my own schedule gives me peace of mind.”

Oscar, Anaheim

 "I just finished school and had taken a student loan, so I started driving to pay it off. The health stipend has been such a huge help -- it makes me feel really good to know that I'm covered and if I get sick and need to go to the hospital it's not coming out of my pocket."

California’s new model is making driving better. The vast majority of drivers across the country say flexibility is what brings them to the platform, that their lives are about so much more than driving, and that they want independence + benefits. Lyft will always stand with drivers and protect the flexibility that’s important to them.