Uber and Lyft drivers strike for pay transparency — after algorithms made it harder to understand

San Francisco • Uber and Lyft drivers across the country launched strikes and demonstrations in multiple cities Wednesday to lobby for better pay and transparency.

The demonstrations, which could prove disruptive to riders and raise the profile of movements to secure better driver pay and benefits, highlight a contradiction: Technology has long promised to bring more transparency, but the algorithms that decide how much drivers get paid have increased opaqueness over their income.

Uber and Lyft drivers started striking in multiple East Coast cities Wednesday morning, logging off their apps and advising passengers not to ride ahead of planned demonstrations across the country. Despite some…