Bolt Taxi Drivers: Research Project on Gig Economy Impact, London

This report presents the results of a research project investigating the experiences of Bolt taxi drivers in London, focusing on the impact of the gig economy on their working lives. The research involved conducting interviews with six Bolt drivers to gather insights into their perspectives on various aspects of their jobs. The findings cover several key areas, including the drivers' motivations for joining Bolt, their satisfaction with the flexibility of their work hours, and their opinions on earnings and payment structures. The drivers also shared their views on the Bolt app, including any technical issues or areas for improvement, and offered suggestions for company policy enhancements. The impact of the pandemic on their earnings and overall working conditions was also a significant theme. The drivers expressed concerns about low pay, high expenses, and the lack of company support, especially in the context of the pandemic. The report concludes with an overview of the drivers' reflections on their experiences, highlighting the main challenges and potential areas for improvement within the Bolt platform and the broader gig economy context.

UNIT 11 Research Project

Contents
Chapter 5 - Result............................................................................................................................1
10 taxi private hire from BOLT – PLEASE I need answers about their job with negative and
positive impact to work in gig economy..........................................................................................1
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND RECCOMENDATIONS.....................................................12
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................12
Recommendations......................................................................................................................14
CHAPTER 7 REFLECTION.........................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

Chapter 5 - Result
10 taxi private hire from BOLT – PLEASE I need answers about their job
with negative and positive impact to work in gig economy
DRIVER 1
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
My name is David and the age is 22.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position on Bolt company is taxi drivers.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
I work around 2 years for company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
I was attracted to the lower commission at Bolt and saw it as a chance to enhance my daily
earnings.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
Now I have the time to spend with my family because of flexibility.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
I am not able to earn as high because of low company recognition and branding when compared
to drivers of famous companies like Uber which is my primary concern.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
I am satisfied with commission but still the revenue is not that much considering the competitors.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
Before the pandemic it was 60 pounds per hour but now it is less than 20 pounds per hour and I
am not able to pay basic expenditure.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
Sometimes the app provides wrong direction and difficult to use.
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
1

I would say that help drivers pay for price cost of investment, such as car insurance, fuel, or
taxes for a government so that we can get better earnings.
DRIVER 2
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
My name is Logan and I am 27 years old.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position is taxi drivers on Bolt company.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
I work for around 5 years for company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
I was able to work in nonstandard time which was appealing for me.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
The flexible hours are good for my studies and personal life.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
I am not able to get high earnings because much of it goes to pay price cost of investment, such
as car insurance and fuel.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
The payment is low, expenditure high, even with flexibility it makes want to quit.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
The pandemic reduced my earnings from 55 to 25 pounds approximately.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
The user experience for both me and consumer is not good and need immediate improvement.
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
My suggestion is to provide car insurance from company first and foremost so that drivers are
able to get better earnings and feel motivated.
DRIVER 3
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
2

My name is Tigran and also I am 30 years old.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position within the Bolt company is taxi driver.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
I worked about 7 years for the company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
I think the primary factor which made me work with company 7 years ago was to get free time
compared to other low paying jobs.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
Yes I do think it has made me stick with company for such long time.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
Impersonal management and the ineffectiveness of algorithmic rating causes problems which I
do not like.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
No, ever since the pandemic the situation has got worse and the company does not help in paying
extra expenditure.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
My average hourly rate is £30 hourly rate which is very low and before the pandemic it would
reach as high as £70.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
Yes I have the issues with the Bolt app as their because algorithmic rating are not effective to
assess drivers and can get wrong results.
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
I am suggesting better management, technology and support for improving pay of drivers during
tough times.
DRIVER 4
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
3

My name is Jacob and I am 35 years old.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position on Bolt company is taxi drivers.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
In around 4 years i worked for the company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
Higher commission for me and better work life balance were the factors which persuaded me to
work for Blot.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
Bolt offers ample flexibility to me which is an advantage.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
I have realized that the management through app is ineffective and I don’t have any guidance on
how to improve my rating or get better rides which is my main problem.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
The payment is not good at all, I have rarely achieved high profitability and am stressed to get
blocked by the ineffective algorithmic system because of less ratings.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
My average is below £25 and I am due my personal payment as much of it goes on petrol and
insurance. The pandemic further made the situation worse with lesser consumers.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
The app does not have good algorithm to judge drivers and the rating system can be aused by
some with no proper management.
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
The suggestion is to get rid of current management, app algorithm and take action to increase
basic payment for suffering drivers.
DRIVER 5
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
4

My name is Jack and I am 35 years old.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position on Bolt company is taxi drivers.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
In around 4 years i worked for the company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
I don’t have much high qualification and good driving skills, Bolt offers higher commission
which made me chose it compared to Uber or working in other sectors.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
No it is not much and the expenditure of car driving is also high.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
The high expenditure makes me want to go to rival businesses where at least I will get better
revenue for my driving skills.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
No, I am not happy with the payment as this do not covers their all costs such as petrol,
insurances, services and taxes. Also, drivers are charged among 10 -20% of the cost for its
facilities as well as the chances to earn £800 to £1200 each week and without considering week
hours or investment of money.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
The average hourly rate is what makes me want to quit because it get so less revenue even when
I work all day and get no flexibility. The pandemic has further lowered it to 18 or 15 I guess.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
The app is fine it has problems sometimes but overall it is OK according to me. I have not afced
many problems because of the app.
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
Bolt needs to enhance their marketing quickly so that drivers get better rides and also give us
monthly compensation fuel if they want us to work for the company and retain us.
5

DRIVER 6
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
My name is Allen and I am 36 years old.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position is taxi drivers on Bolt company.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
I work for around 5 years for company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
Chance to be self-employed made me switch to Bolt.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
The flexibility is good, I get day offs for my family work and am able to travel to distance
relatives in time of need. The flexibility is good overall.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
The taxi they are providing to the driver is not giving effective performance.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
The payment is quite bad considering the low quality taxi and app I am given. The high fuel
prices also have affected the profit I make.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
I have calculated the hourly rate to $ 45. Before the pandemic it was £80. This along with rising
fuel cost have made me work higher hours than I want to
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
I am not able to give or get feedback from the app. It’s so bad and detached in this area. How am
I supposed to improve my performance this way. It needs to be taken care of immediately
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
My recommendation is invest in R&D, worker relationship and offer better payment for extra
costs
DRIVER 7
6

1. 1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
My name is Levan and I am 27 years old.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position is taxi drivers on Bolt company.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
I work for around 5 years for company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
The company positive attitude towards workers for Bolt company into the initial place.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
I appreciate the flexibility very much, I have been able to live my life own way because of it .
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
The salary is low than Bolt promised which has affected my daily life and future prospects.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
No, it is not good for me, the cost of petrol, insurance and other extra costs is high with o
guarantee that it will get better.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
I think my average hourly rate is about $ 55. It degraded by 20% after the pandemic and the
company has not done anything to help us drivers for this significant change
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
The app does not work in some areas and the navigation directions are not good in providing
real time information. This affected my performance and rating in app. It has made me very
disappointed because now the app is lowering my rating and it is not because of my mistakes.
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
Make the app better now!, also connect with drivers personally instead of the app to help them
get better pay and higher consumers.
DRIVER 8
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
7

My name is Mikheil and the age is 42.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position on Bolt company is taxi drivers.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
I work around 2 years for company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
I was able to earn 20 pounds per hour, which motivated me to take up this job.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
I believe that the level of flexibility at Bolt has enabled me to get more time to fulfil my personal
commitments.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
The company is not technologically developed with ineffective app which has affected my work.
This is the main factor I do not appreciate.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
I am able to make up for all y payments through the work cost.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
Now I am not able to get high amount of revenue because of lower consumers which has made
financial survival more difficult.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
There is high area for improving technological facility of Bolt because the app does not provide
effective services and works ineffectively. .
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
I would recommend the company take action to ensure that drivers are able to get higher
consumers after the pandemic with better app technology.
DRIVER 9
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
My name is Oliver and I am 35 years old.
8

2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
My position on Bolt company is taxi drivers.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
In around 4 years i worked for the company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
The most importantly that attracted me is their flexible work hours to work for Bolt company in
the initial place.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
Yes I am satisfied with the flexibility of the hours as work at Bolt.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
The technology is not good along with payment.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
The pay is terrible because expensive insurance, extra taxes and fuel charges reduce the salary I
get by significant amount .
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
My average hourly rate changed from 20 pounds to 14 pounds because of the pandemic and I am
barely surviving.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
Their app needs massive improvement so that I can easily use it without being distracted from
driving while transporting consumer.
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
I am asking the company to please work on pay as many drivers are being paid terribly with such
high costs
DRIVER 10
1. Please can you tell me your name and your age please?
My name is Emin and also I am 40 years old.
2. Can you please describe your position on Bolt company?
9

My position within the Bolt company is taxi driver.
3. How long do you work for company Bolt in London?
I worked about 7 years for the company Bolt in London.
4. Can you please tell me what attracted you to work for Bolt company in the first place?
The most attracted things is the more learning opportunities in Bolt company into the first place.
5. Are you satisfied with the flexibility of the hours you work at Bolt?
No, I am not satisfied with the flexibility of hours I work to Bolt.
6. Could you please tell me what it is about working with Bolt that you dislike?
The ignorance of complaints done by drivers to management is the things that I dislike.
7. Please can you tell me, are you happy with the payment? Are covering your all your costs
(petrol, insurance, services and taxes)?
No, I am not happy with the payments as the taxi driver pay is lower. No, it does not covering all
my costs such as insurance, petrol, services, taxes and others.
8. Can you please tell me what do you think is your average hourly rate? How has the pandemic
situation impacted you?
My average hourly rate is £20 hourly rate. Also, the pandemic situations impact me as this
minimises the number of customers. During this time consumer do not want to prefer travel in
public transports.
9. Could you please tell me if you have any issues with the Bolt app? Do you think need to have
some improvement?
Yes I have the issues with the Bolt app as their application because it intervenes with my ability
to driver and understand consumer queries
10. Do you have any suggestion about the company policy? Do you think they need make some
improvement related to the relationship between the company and drivers?
No, currently I do not have any suggestion related to the company policy. No, I do not think they
require to develop few improvements associated with relations among company and drivers.
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND RECCOMENDATIONS
Conclusion
As per the above report, it has been concluded that most the taxi drivers are satisfied from
the flexible work options. Moreover, their average hourly rate is £20 and from the interview of
10