03-22-2017, 05:34 AM
Well, here's how it went...pretty much a total bust.
I was online for 17 hr 27 min and earned $78.42...$63.25 of that during 8 hr 44 min on Sat March 18th when a cruise ship was at port.
All the fares were intra-Hilo and earned between $4 and $7 except for the port to Akaka Falls which was $26.96 (the passengers were charged $35.95 reflecting Uber's cut).
OK, so I thought on cruise days it may make sense. Yet I went in Tuesday for the Pride of America and nothing. Even so there is only an average of one cruise per month on the weekend, which are the only ones I could work, having a day job and all.
FTR: Uber charges $2 base fare + 25c/min + $1.50/miles and 20% goes to Uber, 80% to driver.
A $7 trip in Hilo will likely have a market, especially for more than one passenger (4 is the limit with most UberX cars) if only for UH students once they get used to it.
The biggest surprise was _zero_ pick ups from the airport. On Friday the 15th I was there for an hour that saw 11 arrivals and not a single buzz. When I was in Hilo I would gravitate to the airport for arrivals (often two at the same time) but nothing whatsoever.
Looking at the Uber passenger app while I was logged into the the Uber driver app, I would see 3-6 other Ubers show up around Hilo. Roughly half the time my own car/location wouldn't show up. Probably some sort of BS from Uber so passengers see that drivers are all over the place, but who knows. (And the navigation was wonky about a third of the time. Not so much a problem for destination as it was for pick up.)
I spent an hour each in Keauu and Orchidland. Nothing. And I go online from Pahoa into Hilo and back with nothing before Hilo.
I have yet to try the weekend bar closing hours, and probably won't--life being short enough as is.
I'm trying to imagine what someone in, say, HPP, would see if they tried to get an Uber as a passenger. Probably "not available". Yet I went on Uber rider app from home a few times and it showed a driver at the bottom of Leilani.
One passenger on the Saturday cruise day said that the app said al Uber drivers are busy at this time.
So it's first week and all that, but I have a hard time seeing how this may pan out for the east side. I don't know how "far" the apps work, in the sense that if a driver sat at Orchidland, would a rider in HPP, mauka or makai, register as available from how far away? From Ainaloa? Pahoa?
Maybe once that is known. A driver will just go online in, say lower HPP from home and see if there is any action...? At least they're not sitting in their car listening to Vince Flynn audiobooks.
What do PunaWebbers see on the rider app from their homes, I wonder. Anybody driving or riding yet?
Heck, maybe I'm doing something wrong and haven't the slightest.
In any case, this will have to get better if I expect to even get minimum wage, which truth told wouldn't be worth it. OTOH, this is completely non-skilled and easy, if boring, labor. Maybe my goal should be to make enough to pay for someone to do the weedwhackjng which I don't care to do.
Cheers,
Kirt
edit: change $150 to $1.50
I was online for 17 hr 27 min and earned $78.42...$63.25 of that during 8 hr 44 min on Sat March 18th when a cruise ship was at port.
All the fares were intra-Hilo and earned between $4 and $7 except for the port to Akaka Falls which was $26.96 (the passengers were charged $35.95 reflecting Uber's cut).
OK, so I thought on cruise days it may make sense. Yet I went in Tuesday for the Pride of America and nothing. Even so there is only an average of one cruise per month on the weekend, which are the only ones I could work, having a day job and all.
FTR: Uber charges $2 base fare + 25c/min + $1.50/miles and 20% goes to Uber, 80% to driver.
A $7 trip in Hilo will likely have a market, especially for more than one passenger (4 is the limit with most UberX cars) if only for UH students once they get used to it.
The biggest surprise was _zero_ pick ups from the airport. On Friday the 15th I was there for an hour that saw 11 arrivals and not a single buzz. When I was in Hilo I would gravitate to the airport for arrivals (often two at the same time) but nothing whatsoever.
Looking at the Uber passenger app while I was logged into the the Uber driver app, I would see 3-6 other Ubers show up around Hilo. Roughly half the time my own car/location wouldn't show up. Probably some sort of BS from Uber so passengers see that drivers are all over the place, but who knows. (And the navigation was wonky about a third of the time. Not so much a problem for destination as it was for pick up.)
I spent an hour each in Keauu and Orchidland. Nothing. And I go online from Pahoa into Hilo and back with nothing before Hilo.
I have yet to try the weekend bar closing hours, and probably won't--life being short enough as is.
I'm trying to imagine what someone in, say, HPP, would see if they tried to get an Uber as a passenger. Probably "not available". Yet I went on Uber rider app from home a few times and it showed a driver at the bottom of Leilani.
One passenger on the Saturday cruise day said that the app said al Uber drivers are busy at this time.
So it's first week and all that, but I have a hard time seeing how this may pan out for the east side. I don't know how "far" the apps work, in the sense that if a driver sat at Orchidland, would a rider in HPP, mauka or makai, register as available from how far away? From Ainaloa? Pahoa?
Maybe once that is known. A driver will just go online in, say lower HPP from home and see if there is any action...? At least they're not sitting in their car listening to Vince Flynn audiobooks.
What do PunaWebbers see on the rider app from their homes, I wonder. Anybody driving or riding yet?
Heck, maybe I'm doing something wrong and haven't the slightest.
In any case, this will have to get better if I expect to even get minimum wage, which truth told wouldn't be worth it. OTOH, this is completely non-skilled and easy, if boring, labor. Maybe my goal should be to make enough to pay for someone to do the weedwhackjng which I don't care to do.
Cheers,
Kirt
edit: change $150 to $1.50