Erik Forman

Hello, my name is Eric Foreman, and I’m one of the co-founders of the Drivers Cooperative, a worker-owned rideshare platform based in New York City. Back in 2019, a group of for-hire vehicle drivers—those who work for companies like Uber and Lyft—attended the Platform Co-op Consortium Conference at The New School. Inspired by what we learned there, we launched our own platform two years later. Today, we have over 4,000 drivers and more than 40,000 riders. We bootstrapped the company into existence with substantial support from the social movement networks and communities we are part of. We’ve raised $1.4 million from the community through crowdfunding and are now facilitating thousands of trips.
The motivation behind starting this platform stemmed from the significant issues drivers faced with existing rideshare companies, which take up to 40% of the fare, pushing drivers into poverty. Additionally, these companies externalize all business costs, leaving drivers responsible for their vehicles, insurance, gas, repairs, and even their health insurance and social safety nets. This situation led drivers to seek a driver-owned platform, and we’ve responded with Co-op Ride. You can download Co-op Ride from the App Store. If you’re in New York City, please download the app and take a ride with us. We’re also looking forward to collaborating with cooperatives worldwide to make this app accessible wherever you need to travel from A to B.