I’ve done 600 trips with Uber and 100 with Lyft, recently switched to Lyft.
Lyft is better as it allows tips and you can put in your destination so the passenger is matched to where you are going anyway.
Uber drivers can only get 50% or $2.40 for short trips.
I try to filter rides by calling passengers, in the morning I try to only get rides to the airport.
On Friday/Saturday, I may drive downtown in the evening for 5-6 hours. My wife calls it my hobby, I make probably $20-25/hour, after expenses, perhaps $17.
In Escondido I can tell by where the ride originates if they are going to SAN Airport or not but I call anyway.
It is not worth it to do short rides as the driver may need to drive 5-10 miles to make the pickup. If the passenger is only going 2-3 miles, it can be a total of 7-15 miles for $2.40. Uber needs to let the driver put on automatic filters to prevent that.
Also if Uber would add the destination filter like Lyft, that would be helpful. I don’t mind driving 5-8 miles out of the way if I can get paid for 30-25 miles plus tip.
If they had a $5 minimum for drivers on short trips and they are not more than 2-3 miles away, that might work but passengers should still have the ability to tip.
Most riders are fine, but one did damage my car. Uber did cover that. It can be fun on occasion to drive but I wouldn’t want to try and make a full time living doing it.
Lyft does offer the ability to order a ride the previous day too.
If you use the service and you’re going to an odd direction, please text or call the driver to let them know. San Clemente or TJ doesn’t always work. Also if you take a short ride and the driver is slightly irritated, please don’t ding on the rating as that doesn’t make anything better. Just be grateful that he came as it is impossible to make a living on short rides.
Keep in mind Uber/Lyft cost about 1/3 the amount of a taxi.
