When there are more drivers than ride requests at the airport, Uber makes drivers park in a cell phone waiting lot where they enter a digital queue in order to receive requests.
Problem is, at SFO the waiting lot is about a 10-minute drive away, so passengers usually have to wait at least that long after requesting a ride home.
Several other airports I’ve requested rides from have had substantial waits as well.
My solution initially was to use Lyft instead, which would ping the driver closest to you (they’ve since changed that), resulting in a much shorter wait time, as there were usually drivers nearby fresh off a passenger drop-off.
But in my experience Lyft is about $5 more expensive than Uber for my ride home.
It’s definitely a first-world problem that I’m considering 10 minutes a long wait for my smartphone-app-based rideshare transportation, but in Uber time, wherein you can often get a ride within two minutes, this was a weak area.
Solution?
Enter pre-match and re-match.
Here’s how Uber explained it to SF Bay Area drivers this week:
Here is Uber’s FAQ page for the new strategy.
This should shorten wait times for passengers by pinging drivers who are already heading toward the terminal or who are fresh off a trip to the airport and are nearby.
Sounds like a solid plan to me.
Hopefully they’ll roll this out at your airport soon!
easyjourneys 