Driving Strategies | Page 9 of 16

by Harry Campbell on November 10, 2017 13 Comments

How Commuters Can Take Advantage of Driving in a Big City

Harry here. Commuting into a big city can be an overwhelming endeavor, for new and veteran rideshare drivers. Today, guest contributor Jim Miller shares his experience and advice for drivers to the LA market, but this info is applicable to almost all big cities. Jim commutes into LAX, and the concepts Jim shares apply to rideshare drivers nationwide who in the suburbs, but drive in large cities to stay busier and earn more money.

I’ve been driving for Uber part-time for the last three years, and I’ve learned a lot in this time. The bad news? Uber and Lyft are slow in the suburbs. There are a lot of drivers, but not a lot of passengers. Except for really big events, you won’t make much money. The good news? There’s still money to be made in the city, which is why I drive into LA one or two weeknights and most Saturdays to keep my earnings high. Here are a few tips for someone getting started in a big city, and specifically my advice for the LA area.

Earn 3x driving kids to school

Triple your ridesharing pay. Zūm drivers average $32/hour and many make $750+ a week. Work when you want. Get repeat rides and drive only on weekday mornings and afternoons. Apply to drive here.

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by Christian Perea on October 27, 2017 19 Comments

Lyft Ride Streak Bonuses and Uber Consecutive Trips Boost

Uber and Lyft are releasing new driver bonuses in the form of ride streaks: consecutive rides given by drivers. But is this just another way to keep us from canceling on rides, like POOL or Line, that we don’t want to give? Today, senior RSG contributor Christian Perea lets us know what Lyft Streak Bonuses and Uber Consecutive Trip Boosts are, how they work, and how they could affect drivers.

There’s a new driver bonus in town from both Uber and Lyft, and it gives you cash for completing rides in a row during peak hours. Uber calls it the “Consecutive Trips Boost” and Lyft calls it the “Ride Streaks Bonus”. Both are similar programs that encourage drivers to accept every trip that comes their way without logging out, denying, or cancelling a ride during a set time period.

Lyft just announced they will be rolling this promotion out to drivers in all of their large and medium sized markets. Meanwhile, Uber has been testing several versions of this program in Boston, NYC, and Singapore over the last six months and are now testing it in San Francisco, Denver, and New Jersey. This leads me to believe that these sort of promotions will become a big part of driving for Lyft and Uber over the next few months.

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by Christian Perea on September 29, 2017 35 Comments

Uber Drops Destination Filters Back to 2 Trips Per Day

It’s official: Uber’s 6 Destination Filter options are history. Today, senior RSG contributor Christian Perea discusses what happened and why, and what this could mean for Lyft’s destination filter options.

Well that didn’t last long.

Recently, Uber rolled back the number of times we can use Destination Filter from 6 to 2 uses per day. The move comes after Uber featured an upgraded Destination Filter as part of Chapter 3 of their 180 Days of Change campaign. Before August, drivers had always been limited to 2 filters a day.

R.I.P.

Destination Filter has always been a popular feature among drivers because it allows us to control the direction that rides will take us. I liked the idea of having six instead of two because it would allow me to use it more often instead of on the rare occasion where a ride took me far away from the city or at the beginning/end of my shift. The extra four really makes it feel like you have a lot more control over your routes.

More importantly, in an era of lowest-fares-ever, it’s important to have that control over where you drive. So what went wrong?

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by Harry Campbell on September 13, 2017 52 Comments

5 Things I Have Learned After 12,500 Trips

Driving full-time for Uber and Lyft can be both challenging and tiring. If you’re not prepared mentally and physically to be a full-time rideshare driver, it can overwhelm even the most enthusiastic drivers. Today, we have a guest post from Jay Cradeur, a full-time driver from San Francisco who’s completed over 12,500 trips. Here are tips for new and current drivers based on what he’s learned over the last 12,500 trips.

I began driving for Uber and Lyft in January 2016 and since then, I’ve completed over 12,500 trips. I have driven in both the Sacramento market (one month) and San Francisco markets exclusively.

I moved to San Francisco early in my career in order to capitalize on this market’s unique qualities. San Francisco has both high rates and high demand. During this time, I have learned quite a bit about how to not only maximize my earnings, but also make this job enjoyable and repeatable. By repeatable, I mean you don’t need to overexert yourself or stress yourself so that you don’t want to drive anymore and quit. The turnover rate among drivers is ridiculously high.

Let me share five tips and techniques that will keep you making good money while also keeping you joyfully on the road regardless of where you live.

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by Christian Perea on August 15, 2017 5 Comments

How Machine Learning Can Help Drivers Find Their Next Ride

Note: This article is sponsored by FarePilot. They’re a free app that provides drivers with locations and intel on where to go to get their next ride. I’ve found that it’s a useful app for when I don’t know where to go next after dropping off a passenger. Check it out here. As always, all opinions are our own.

Whenever I hear about AI and machine learning in the context of rideshare driving it usually involves how we are all going to get replaced by robots. This unfortunately paints AI and machine learning in a pretty negative light to drivers because it more or less becomes synonymous with “unemployment.” Even if drivers can benefit from it today.

AI and machine learning isn’t all doom and gloom for drivers though. It’s reflective of new technology; and like any new technology it’s benefit at the end of the day depends on how humans use it as a tool. [Read more…]