As drivers, we’re all looking to maximize our earnings in the shortest amount of time. But what if there was an app that could help you identify hot spots, get alerts about airport flights, track your mileage and more? Today, RSG contributor Paula Gibbins covers Gridwise, an app that does all of that and more.
This post is sponsored by Gridwise but, as always, opinions are our own and we only work with products and services that are beneficial to drivers.
There are many tools out there that exist to make the lives of rideshare drivers easier, safer and more efficient. And one such tool that we’ll be taking a look at today is called Gridwise and it claims to “help rideshare drivers optimize their driving and earn 39% more by helping them understand when and where they should be driving.”
That concept of drivers helping each other is definitely intriguing, so let’s dive in and see what Gridwise is all about.
What is Gridwise and What Does It Do for Drivers?
Founded in 2016 by rideshare drivers, Gridwise is an all-encompassing driver assistance app for rideshare drivers. It can help track airport passenger volume, airport queues, important events, flight delays, mileage and driving performance, send custom airport alerts that tell you when the airport is busy and gives you real-time passenger demand data.
With the algorithms they use, Gridwise lets you look back at the past three hours and plan ahead for the next 24 hours to see where passengers were, are, and will likely be, making it easier for you to plan your day as a driver. As we’ve discussed in the past, some of themost successful drivers recognize patterns of surge for example, and then wait for it to build in the right areas to maximize their profits.
Part of the real-time rider demand is that Gridwise will give you alerts for upcoming events in your area and give you an idea of when those events will be letting out, so you know where to be and when. It will even give you alerts about traffic, weather and other nearby opportunities throughout your day.
What Cities is Gridwise Available In?
Gridwise is available in many cities and growing quickly. As of June 2019, they’re in the following cities:
- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Baltimore, MD
- Bay Area, CA
- Boston, MA
- Charlotte, NC
- Chicago, IL
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Detroit, MI
- Houston, TX
- Las Vegas, NV
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- New Jersey, NJ
- New York, NY
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Pittsburgh, PA
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Washington, DC
Over the next few weeks and months, Gridwise will be available in these markets as well:
- Jacksonville, FL
- Kansas City, MO
- Nashville, TN
- New Orleans, LA
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Indianapolis, IN
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Louisville, Missouri
- Tampa Bay, Florida
- Tulsa, Oklahoma
If it’s not yet available in your city, you can still sign up for Gridwise and enter your e-mail:
5 Ways Gridwise Makes Drivers More Money
My first impression of Gridwise is that it gives drivers a lot of information. And I mean, a LOT. But we wanted to highlight the five features that will help you, as a driver, earn more money.
Gridwise says they can make drivers 39% more and I’m always skeptical of statements like this but according to Gridwise, “The 39% came from a study where we analyzed over 1,000s of drivers earnings statements on Uber and Lyft. We looked at $/hour before a driver used Gridwise and their $/hr 1 month after using Gridwise. We found that on average drivers earned 39% more per hour after 1 month of actively using Gridwise.” Sounds believable to me – let’s check out the features.
Maximize Airport Earnings
With Gridwise, drivers can see when passengers are landing and will likely be looking for drivers. Gridwise keeps track of the flight schedules for you so you can be sure not to waste your time in the airport queue. It’ll help make your airport runs more productive overall.
Ex: Let’s say you drop a pax off at the airport, don’t get rematched and you’re trying to decide if it’s worth it or not to wait in a full queue. If you see on the Gridwise app that arrivals are about to peak, it may be a good idea to stay!
Drivers can also use the queues tab to understand how many Lyft or Uber drivers are in the airport queue for various services. Fellow drivers will simply input their queue number into Gridwise and let their fellow drivers know how long the wait will be.
This will also help drivers understand if they should wait at the airport before they head over.
Understanding Rider Demand Through Events
When it’s busy, you’re probably getting lots of next trip requests and not waiting long in between trips. But during slow times, this type of data is useful. And when you’re in areas that you’re not familiar with, Gridwise can help you find where passengers might be. If you’re hitting a slow patch, Gridwise will tell you what events are going on around your city so you know where the demand might be hitting it big next and plan your day accordingly.
For each event you can see where it is, when it ends, approximately how many people will be at the event, and approximately how far each event is from your current location. With one click, you can save the event and add a reminder so you are sent an alert about each event.
Track Your Rideshare Performance
Gridwise also has a feature that allows you to track your performance as a driver. It breaks down how much you’re earning for Uber versus Lyft and shows you your hourly rate, hours you’ve worked and more:
They’ll even calculate your tax deduction and prepare detailed tax reports to make your life easier when it comes to filing.
You can also compare your performance to other drivers in your area who drive the same length of time as you to see if you’re making around the same per-hour earnings.
There’s also an app switching taskbar (only available for Androids at the moment) to easily toggle between rideshare apps from anywhere on your phone. As you can see, Gridwise really offers a lot of various features for drivers. If I had to find one fault though, it might be information overload for a lot of drivers – my advice would be to test out the app and find a few features that you like/use the most.
Weather & Hotspot Alerts
Example alerts from Gridwise:
The weather alert would come in handy for drivers who either love to drive during adverse weather conditions or hate it, so you can decide if it’s worthwhile to be out and about. Some drivers prefer bad weather because it earns us more money. Surge pricing goes up and demand is always there.
This alert from Gridwise helps with those last-minute weather events that crop up out of nowhere and sends you an alert when bad weather is coming up in the next 10 minutes or so.
For instance, in April, there was a random burst of snow here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area that made traffic slow way down and created a bit of a mess outside. I was stuck at my office job, but my husband who does rideshare driving had called it a day before the snow started and wished he’d stuck it out because that would have been a great time to make extra earnings. If given an alert, he likely would have stayed out just a couple hours longer to get people through the messy rush hour.
Gridwise also gives users alerts for events that are being let out, so drivers can choose to focus on popular events like concerts, sporting events, and other shows.
Rideshare Mileage Tracking
Mileage is a big deal for drivers. Uber and Lyft only track your mileage as you’re actively shuttling passengers. Gridwise will help you track all the miles that count toward rideshare driving and will help you with your related tax documentation. If you’re currently not utilizing tracking all of your rideshare miles, this feature alone will help you save $$.
Bonus: Feature Request – Expense Tracking
One thing I’d like them to add is the ability to track my expenses within the app. That way I truly could have everything all in one place. Luckily for me and you, this is a feature that Gridwise is currently working on!
With their new expense tracking feature, you’ll be able to easily track any and all expenses that you may incur as a driver so that you can gain a true understanding of your earnings as a driver and more importantly, save big come tax time.
You simply click the add expense button, and you’ll be directed to a screen that allows you to name and categorize your expenses manually.
What Are Other Drivers Saying About Gridwise?
The app has lots of reviews you can scan through but here’s a small sampling of what people are saying about Gridwise:
“This app is perfect for rideshare drivers. It tracks mileage, nearby events, airport activity, and much more.”
“…If you go to an airport I highly recommend. Their flight info hasn’t steered me wrong yet!”
“Chicago app user. Great information to guide rideshare drivers to the right place at the right time. Airport arrivals and departures, events throughout the city. An app that helps to make money.”
On the negative reviews, it seems that most negative reviews were made from drivers who weren’t in a supported city and couldn’t access the app. There were also many where Gridwise responded and appeared to fix or attempt to solve the issues the people presented in their reviews.
There was at least one instance I saw where the person who had rated it poorly went back in and updated their review to reflect the help that Gridwise gave them to solve the issue they’d brought up. No app is perfect, but I like that the Gridwise team is actively listening to its users and trying to fix the issues that come up.
What feature is most popular with drivers?
The most popular tab is the airport tab that includes a passenger demand graph for the next 24 hours, airport alerts, queue reporting and flight details. The most popular feature within the tab is the 24-hour passenger graph that shows you their estimate of where passenger demand will be highest throughout the next 24 hours.
This was also apparent when reading the reviews. A majority of the reviewers were raving about the airport tab and how helpful the flight arrivals has helped them know when to head to the airport for more consistent earnings instead of waiting in a dead queue.
How Gridwise Helps Drivers
That was a lot of information, but what does it all really mean for rideshare drivers? And how does it earn you more money? By streamlining what you do into one easy, go-to point.
This app does — I’ll say almost — everything a rideshare driver could want, and it’s all in one place, making our lives that much easier. Gridwise helps with:
- Airport alerts, helping you earn more with those typically lucrative airport rides
- Toggling you back and forth between platforms (keeping you busy and always earning)
- Helping you understand rider demand
Apps Designed for Helping Rideshare Drivers Like You
There are several apps that feature similar components to what Gridwise offers but I think what makes Gridwise stand out is that they do it all.
Gridwise Plus
Gridwise Plus is an upgraded version of the free Gridwise app where you pay a monthly ($9.99) or yearly ($95.99) subscription to unlock even more features. Keep in mind these subscriptions are tax deductible since they are business expenses.
According to the Gridwise website with Gridwise Plus, you: “Get access to even more smart driving tools like 24-hour airport graphs, real-time flight statuses, and personalized alerts. All presented ad-free.”
Rideshare is Evolving
As the rideshare industry is evolving, drivers and app providers alike need to evolve and adapt with it. Services such as Gridwise are only in existence because rideshare exists and someone out there found where a gap was and filled it with information that is useful for drivers.
These are entrepreneurs who are able to capitalize on rideshare driving, and in many cases those entrepreneurs have developed from existing rideshare drivers. Who better than the active drivers can see the needs that are out there? We all know what we want for improving our driving experiences, but only a few actually go after those ideas and try to tackle them, for the betterment of rideshare drivers everywhere.
If you have an idea for something that’s not out there yet, but should be, just take the leap and give it a shot. If you’re wanting it, chances are a lot of other rideshare drivers are wanting the same thing.
Readers, are you interested in checking out Gridwise for yourself? Sign up to use Gridwise here!
-Paula @ RSG
