The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission voted yesterday to set a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, marking the first time a government in the US has imposed wage rules on human cloud, ride-sharing companies. The new rules take effect in January and require companies such as Uber and Lyft to pay drivers $26.51 an hour in gross pay, or $17.22 after expenses. 

The commission expects 96% of Uber, Lyft, Gett/Juno, and Via drivers in New York City will receive almost a $10,000 a year raise.

“New York City is the first city globally to recognize that the tens of thousands of men and women who are responsible for providing increasingly popular rides that begin with the touch of a screen deserve to make a livable wage and protection against companies from unilaterally reducing it,” commission Chair Meera Joshi said. “Convenience costs, and going forward, that cost will no longer be borne by the driver. Today’s rules will raise driver earnings by on average $10,000 a year and require companies to be completely transparent on how they calculate pay and car leasing costs.”

The rules, available online here, set a per-minute and per-mile minimum trip payment formula, which the commission anticipates will represent a raise to 96% of the 80,000 drivers.