Plain-English definitions for the terms that show up across rideshare, gig economy work, and the RideAtrium platform itself. Bookmarkable. Cite us if it helps.
RideAtrium's driver-set pricing model: base fare + per-mile + per-minute, set by the driver — never by an algorithm.
Fair Fare is RideAtrium's pricing model. Each driver sets three numbers: a base fare, a per-mile rate, and a per-minute rate. The rider sees the resulting flat price up front and pays exactly that. There is no algorithmic surge multiplier and no platform commission on top. Riders can compare drivers' Fair Fare rates side-by-side; drivers compete on price, service, and reputation rather than on availability under a corporate algorithm.
A rideshare model where the platform takes 0% of every fare. Drivers keep 100% of what the rider pays.
Zero-commission rideshare is a transportation marketplace where the platform takes 0% of each completed ride's fare. The platform is funded by a flat driver subscription instead of a per-ride percentage. RideAtrium and Empower are the two best-known U.S. zero-commission rideshare platforms, distinct from Uber and Lyft, which take 20-30% of each fare.
The percentage of each fare the rideshare platform keeps. Uber: ~25-30%. Lyft: ~20-25%. RideAtrium: 0%.
The take-rate is the platform's cut of each ride. On Uber it's roughly 25-30%, on Lyft 20-25%, and on RideAtrium 0%. A driver doing $4,000/month in gross fares pays Uber $800-$1,200 in commission alone. RideAtrium replaces that variable percentage with a flat $49/month subscription, regardless of how much the driver earns.
A rideshare platform funded by drivers paying a flat monthly fee instead of giving up a percentage of every fare.
Subscription rideshare is a model where drivers pay the platform a flat monthly fee — RideAtrium's entry tier is $49/month, Empower's is approximately $350/month — instead of a per-ride commission. This makes per-ride economics simple and predictable for the driver, especially for high-volume drivers who would otherwise pay hundreds or thousands per month in commission.
An independent rideshare driver who books riders directly through their own page or QR code, not through a corporate marketplace.
A private driver is an independent rideshare or for-hire driver who builds and books their own rider relationships directly — rather than receiving anonymous corporate dispatch from Uber or Lyft. Every RideAtrium driver gets their own personal booking URL (rideatrium.com/{slug}) and QR code, which they can hand to riders, post on social media, or print on a business card. Riders book that specific driver instead of taking whoever the algorithm assigns.
A driver in RideAtrium's first cohort. Founding Drivers get the lowest lifetime rates and the longest free-trial extension.
RideAtrium's Founding Driver program is open to the first cohort of drivers in any state to join the platform. Founding Drivers are invited first when their state's waitlist crosses the 100-signup launch threshold, get the longest 30-day free-trial extensions, and lock in the lowest grandfathered subscription rate for life. Utah is the inaugural Founding Driver market.
RideAtrium launches in any U.S. state once 100 drivers in that state join the waitlist. No funding round, no politics — 100 = launch.
The 100 Rule is RideAtrium's transparent launch mechanic: when any U.S. state hits 100 driver waitlist signups, RideAtrium opens that market. There is no funding milestone, no city-level negotiation, no corporate strategy — drivers themselves decide where the platform launches by signing up and sharing the waitlist with other drivers in their state. This rewards driver communities that want zero-commission rideshare the most.
Algorithmic price multipliers that raise rider prices when demand exceeds supply. Uber and Lyft use it; RideAtrium doesn't.
Surge pricing — sometimes called Prime Time on Lyft — is an algorithm that multiplies the rider's price during periods of high demand. It's a tool for the platform, not the driver: drivers don't actually capture most of the surge, because the platform's take-rate is applied to the surged fare too. Riders consistently rank surge pricing as their most-disliked rideshare feature. RideAtrium has no surge — the rider sees the driver's flat Fair Fare price and pays exactly that.
A driver's list of repeat riders, with full contact info, ride history, and notes — exportable as a CSV anytime.
On RideAtrium, every driver gets a built-in CRM with their rider list — contact info, ride history, notes, and one-click CSV export. If a driver ever leaves the platform, they take their book of business with them. On Uber and Lyft, drivers have no access to rider contact info at all; the rider is the platform's customer, not the driver's. This is one of the largest structural differences between RideAtrium and traditional rideshare.
A driver's individual URL (rideatrium.com/{slug}) and QR code that riders use to book that specific driver.
A personal booking page is the driver's own URL on RideAtrium — rideatrium.com/{your-slug}. The driver shares this URL or their printed QR code with riders, on social media, or on a business card. Riders who scan or visit the URL book that specific driver, not a random algorithmic assignment. This is the foundation of how RideAtrium drivers build a direct rider book they own.
Running RideAtrium alongside Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart on the same shift. RideAtrium is multi-app friendly.
Multi-app driving is the practice of running multiple rideshare or delivery platforms simultaneously on a single shift. Most active rideshare drivers do this — accepting Uber requests, Lyft requests, and food deliveries based on which one pays best at any given moment. RideAtrium is explicitly built to be multi-app friendly: drivers can run RideAtrium alongside any other platform, take RideAtrium rides when they come in, and fall back to Uber/Lyft otherwise.
A pre-onboarding screen of a driver's criminal record, motor-vehicle record, and identity. Required on RideAtrium; not required on Empower.
A rideshare background check screens a driver's criminal record, motor-vehicle record, and identity before they're allowed to drive on a platform. RideAtrium requires a passing background check before any driver onboards, and runs continuous monitoring afterward. Empower notably does not require background checks, which has been part of the regulatory case against the platform in multiple jurisdictions.
