[batterseapower]

For ridesharing apps, at least, it seems clear that the gig economy has grown the total market and hence the number of workers needed to serve this market. Before Uber entered New York there were ~500k cab trips per day: now, yellow cabs only serve 250k trips but 700k trips are performed by ridesharers [1]. The negative effect on employment is about 3x smaller than the positive one.

[1] https://toddwschneider.com/dashboards/nyc-taxi-ridehailing-u...

[karussell]

Please do not confuse ridesharing with ridehailing although the companies like Lyft und Uber invest a lot to blur the line.

> Before Uber entered New York there were ~500k cab trips per day

This is not a good argument as Uber & Lyft are not yet making profit and in general you cannot compare both numbers as ridehailing grabs trips from public transit:

https://sf.curbed.com/2018/7/27/17622178/uber-lyft-cause-tra...

https://www.businessinsider.de/uber-lyft-having-devastating-...

Not to talk about the negative effects of their growth: http://www.schallerconsult.com/rideservices/automobility.htm

[bonzini]

Those 700k trips are operating at a loss, so the numbers are not representative of the effect of gig economy.