New Poll: 84% of California Rideshare & Delivery Drivers Recommend that Massachusetts and Other States Pass Laws Like Prop 22

75% of California Drivers Say Prop 22 “increased my pay”

CONTACT: Conor Yunits, 857-276-8479, cyunits@solomonmccown.com

BOSTON, MA – September 30, 2021 – Nine months after California’s groundbreaking Prop 22 granted rideshare & delivery drivers independence and benefits, drivers across the state remain overwhelmingly supportive of the law and recommend that other states like Massachusetts follow California’s lead. The new poll of California drivers released today found that 88 percent of drivers polled said Prop 22 “had been good for them,” and 84 percent of drivers said they would recommend other states pass laws that protect flexibility while adding new benefits and protections

“This poll reinforces that politicians and special interests are trying to solve a problem that rideshare and delivery drivers do not have,” said Jack Kinney, a Lyft driver in California. “Prop 22 has been the best thing to happen to drivers in California, and the proposal in Massachusetts, with sick time and paid family and medical leave, is even better. Nobody knows what drivers want and need better than drivers, and proposals like Prop 22 and the Massachusetts ballot question deliver the flexibility and benefits that work for our lives.”

Some of the survey’s additional findings include: 

  • 87 percent of drivers support Prop 22, with 63 percent of respondents “strongly” in support. In other words, drivers support Prop 22 by more than a 6-to-1 margin.
  • 84 percent agree Prop 22 “benefits me personally.”
  • 82 percent say Prop 22 “creates better opportunities for the future.”
  • 87 percent of drivers agree Prop 22 “should be protected by the courts since the voters approved it”, including 65 percent who strongly agree.
  • 75 percent say Prop 22 “increased my pay”
  • If Prop 22 is invalidated, only 2 in 10 said they would continue driving.
  • 57 percent of drivers say app-based driving helped them replace lost or reduced income due to the pandemic.

The numbers did not surprise the hundreds of drivers in Massachusetts who are pushing for a Prop 22-style law.

“I lived and drove in California and now I live and drive in Massachusetts, two places where drivers have overwhelmingly asked for independence and benefits,” said Travis Jones of East Longmeadow, who shops with Instacart. “Of course Prop 22 is popular in California – it gives drivers the flexibility we need and the benefits we want. It’s not that hard. How many times will we have to voice our support for Prop 22 and similar laws before politicians listen to us?” 

By a 7:1 margin, drivers in Massachusetts support a proposed ballot question that, much like Prop 22, would grant historic new benefits for app-based rideshare and delivery drivers in the Commonwealth while allowing them to maintain their flexibility as independent contractors. The proposed ballot question would establish a minimum earnings guarantee for workers; extend new benefits including healthcare stipends and occupational accident insurance; and protect drivers from discrimination all while securing workers’ rights to work when, where, how often and how long they want. The benefits in the proposed Massachusetts question also ensure that Massachusetts drivers would earn paid sick time and enroll them in the state’s Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) program. 

The California survey was written and conducted by independent research firm EMC Research pulling directly from lists of actual drivers across each of the four major app-based platforms, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart. The survey was conducted online between September 1-8, 2021 in English and Spanish and results are from 1,508 app-based rideshare and delivery drivers who have driven with at least one app-based platform in the past three months. The margin of error is ∓2.5%.