Uber on Big Island

[Obie]

Here's how it works on the mainland at the Pittsburgh, PA airport.They must not have an agreement to work the airports on the Big Island yet.

https://www.uber.com/drive/pittsburgh/airports/pit/?utm_source=AdWords_Brand&utm_campaign=search-google-brand_1_-99_us-national_d_txt_acq_cpc_en-us__inurl%3Adrive_dsa-48161389044_154292526130_43898319308_b_c_track-mar23usanonbranddriver_restructure&cid=688690726&adg_id=43898319308&fi_id=&match=b&net=g&dev=c&dev_m=&cre=154292526130&kwid=dsa-48161389044&kw=_inurl%3Adrive&placement=&tar=&gclid=CNnKwKm27dICFRBEfgodNmkC0g&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CIWn16m27dICFUJYfgodAkAG0A

[PaulW]

https://nyti.ms/2nPvprZ
How Uber motivates drivers.

How's it going Kirt? Or have you stopped? I hope it succeeds here.

[knieft]

quote:

---

Originally posted by PaulW

How's it going Kirt? Or have you stopped? I hope it succeeds here.

---

No, I haven't quit. Mostly weekends. Still making less than $5/hour but gotta keep trying to see if it gets better. I will likely decide after summer beak if it is something worth continuing.

Still nothing from Puna, though I see a driver online from Ainaloa sometimes. Besides driving into Hilo, I have hung out at Pahoa and Orchidland for about 6 hours total since I started: nothing. There are still usually 4-6 other drivers shown in Hilo. Hard to imagine they are making much either, but who knows.

On a Costco run, I went online at the Queens Court in Waikaloa for nearly an hour and nothing. Kona was better for a few hours--still just paid for gas.

Uber sends "promo" notifications, saying I'll get a $50 bonus if I log 50 rides on a weekend. I'm lucky to get 10.

Also sent me two notifications saying it seems I'm not using a car mount for my phone (though I am, a magnetic one) and that customers will think I'm more professional if I have a mount. Still puzzled how Uber gauges whether I use a mount, and then gets it wrong.

I have only twice had the chance to take a new ride before the one I am on is finished. Thanks for the article link. Luckily, I am not goal oriented.

Still have hard time seeing how it will eventually work in Puna...

Cheers,
Kirt

edit to add: Also, when I try to log onto Lyft as driver it says it is not available in your area, but appears to work for riders...?

[randomq]

They are never gonna meet their wait times here, though the service could work if adjusted to pay the drivers more, have a larger search radius, etc. As long as it's cheaper than a cab...

[knieft]

quote:

---

Originally posted by randomq

As long as it's cheaper than a cab...

---

$35-47 Uber fare estimate from Pahoa to Hilo. Sounds like more than I would spend except in some sort of emergency.

Does anybody have experience with cab prices for a similar route?

http://www.uber-fare-estimator.com/route/kwjt

Cheers,
Kirt

[leilanidude]

Once when at the airport, I thought I would skip the rental and just take a cab. three different cabbies all said $80 to $95, airport to Leilani! I said no and walked over and got a rental from Avis for $35 for a day.

[Lodestone]

We were quoted $55 for cab fare from HS to the airport last year, so that seems about right.

[Rob Tucker]

The Uber formula for income seems really weak to me. You have to have a common simple skill, licensed and able to drive a car, and then as an attraction, you have to be the cheapest choice.

Leaves one with minimal opportunity for any profit.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Leaves one with minimal opportunity for any profit.

It's difficult to determine income minus expenses for any business, and that works to Uber's advantage. I read a report about a year ago that followed a group of drivers and they came up with this earning estimate:

$17-$19 per hour gross wages from fares
$7-$8 per hour actual income after gas, mileage, etc is deducted

The driver based Uber business model is just a stop gap measure for their long range plan. They are already testing driverless vehicles and will slowly replace and implement the change to a full driverless fleet of cars as soon as the technology is proven.

I sat next to a young man on a recent flight to the mainland. He's an engineer in Chrysler's driverless research department. He told me the leaders in this technology such as Tesla see a full roll out in 2 years time. Followers such as his department at Chrysler will take a little longer. They intend to build on what other car companies discover in the experimental phase we're now in. The Chrysler engineer told me they project all major manufacturers will have fully functional driverless cars operating on the roads in 5 years.

Edited to add: I didn't ask him about functionality within Hawaiian Acres. Sorry.

[PaulW]

I once asked about a taxi from ITO to HPP, $80! I, too, just rented a car instead.

Uber is successful almost everywhere it goes because it's taking advantage of a huge market inefficiency, i.e. taxis.
There are only a limited number of taxis and they can charge whatever they want. Plenty of opportunity to make money there.
People have grown used to not even thinking of taxis or paying for rides here, hopefully that will change soon.