4 ms·

Why can't the x drivers at the front of the line wait directly outside? Not sure I understand.

aeturnum 5y ago
So there are a few issues if you think about it. First, airports are large and people will order rides from all different parts of the terminal. Putting drivers at various points inside the terminal(s) complicates assignment. Second, you can't...go up to a rideshare driver and hire them (as a ride share driver). You have to use the app. So having them physically available, though potentially decreasing some wait times, doesn't help most people who hire them. Taxis, on the other hand, you can just walk up to and hire. So having fixed locations for taxis scattered around the terminal makes more sense with the model. Third, you have a priority ordering problem. Rideshare drivers are given rides in the order they arrived at the airport, but the location of their passengers varies. It's possible someone orders while they are walking through the terminal or when they already have their bags. This also relates to the large size of airports (as mentioned above). Taxis, on the other hand, are hired at the physical taxi and can leave immediately. I think ridesharing companies could fix all of these problems by creating a 'taxi' mode in their apps where people could walk up to a set of waiting drivers and grab one, but they haven't done so.
- lhorie 5y ago
  Most airport roads predate Uber and often aren't physically designed to accommodate for the sorts of traffic volume they see after 20+ years in operation, so airports come up with all sorts of rules and compromises to try to avoid congestion problems at terminal doors. Some setup specialized waiting areas for Uber further out in the parking lot area, some have queueing systems, some just treat Uber as family pickups, some have dedicated Uber lanes, some share lanes with taxis, some are just completely dysfunctional and the driver just has to drive back around to avoid blocking traffic if they're there too early or it's too busy. It really depends on the airport. > I think ridesharing companies could fix all of these problems by creating a 'taxi' mode Uber actually offers this already in some places. Here in SF, I have the option of calling an actual taxi from the app, and I linked in another comment to a page about Uber's further interest in hailables. IIRC it also supports cash walk-ins in India, and it acquired Autocab in UK.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

So there are a few issues if you think about it. First, airports are large and people will order rides from all different parts of the terminal. Putting drivers at various points inside the terminal(s) complicates assignment. Second, you can't...go up to a rideshare driver and hire them (as a ride share driver). You have to use the app. So having them physically available, though potentially decreasing some wait times, doesn't help most people who hire them. Taxis, on the other hand, you can just walk up to and hire. So having fixed locations for taxis scattered around the terminal makes more sense with the model. Third, you have a priority ordering problem. Rideshare drivers are given rides in the order they arrived at the airport, but the location of their passengers varies. It's possible someone orders while they are walking through the terminal or when they already have their bags. This also relates to the large size of airports (as mentioned above). Taxis, on the other hand, are hired at the physical taxi and can leave immediately. I think ridesharing companies could fix all of these problems by creating a 'taxi' mode in their apps where people could walk up to a set of waiting drivers and grab one, but they haven't done so.

lhorie 5y ago
Most airport roads predate Uber and often aren't physically designed to accommodate for the sorts of traffic volume they see after 20+ years in operation, so airports come up with all sorts of rules and compromises to try to avoid congestion problems at terminal doors. Some setup specialized waiting areas for Uber further out in the parking lot area, some have queueing systems, some just treat Uber as family pickups, some have dedicated Uber lanes, some share lanes with taxis, some are just completely dysfunctional and the driver just has to drive back around to avoid blocking traffic if they're there too early or it's too busy. It really depends on the airport. > I think ridesharing companies could fix all of these problems by creating a 'taxi' mode Uber actually offers this already in some places. Here in SF, I have the option of calling an actual taxi from the app, and I linked in another comment to a page about Uber's further interest in hailables. IIRC it also supports cash walk-ins in India, and it acquired Autocab in UK.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]