# Uber's New Feature



## CantThrowCantCatch (Sep 17, 2015)

Received an email from Uber about a new feature on the app, starting today. It's a feature that lets you accept a ride while currently on another ride, i'm assuming close to the dropoff location of the current pax. Emailed mentioned it helped with downtime for drivers and quicker pickup for passengers. Was curious if anybody took advantage of that feature and accepted a ride while still on one and how that worked?


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## Digits (Sep 17, 2015)

That feature sounds nothing more than a line request.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

I have had a number of these ride requests and it works, very well.


CantThrowCantCatch said:


> Received an email from Uber about a new feature on the app, starting today. It's a feature that lets you accept a ride while currently on another ride, i'm assuming close to the dropoff location of the current pax. Emailed mentioned it helped with downtime for drivers and quicker pickup for passengers. Was curious if anybody took advantage of that feature and accepted a ride while still on one and how that worked?


It keeps you busy and can potentially increase drivers revenue. No need to wait for a ride request, you already have one, as soon as you drop off your 1st passenger.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

It is the digital/satellite/GPS/computer version of the old "en route" bidding on cab voice dispatch. I wonder what took them so long. In fact, I did suggest it to the local Operations Manager here some time back. The funny thing about this is that I have seen only one cab call assignment program that did have a feature that allowed stacking of jobs for one driver. It did require a human being who knew what he was doing (READ: A *REAL DISPATCHER*) to put it to use, but it could not have been that hard a leap to do it automatically. I have little doubt that the computer assigned en-route call will be too far away, half the time, but we will see.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Digits said:


> That feature sounds nothing more than a line request.


Not really. Line/Pool requests are when riders share portions of the same trip. These stacked rides are separate trips so you won't be paid to drive to the second request. I would prefer all rides function like this. So long as I have my destination entered into the app they know where I'm going to end up and roughly when. Why send the request to a driver who may be 15 minutes away when I'm dropping off across the street in 5 minutes?


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## Jennifer beck (Sep 17, 2015)

I haven't seen it in my area yet (Gainesville, FL.) sounds good if it keeps me busy earning.


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## Digits (Sep 17, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


> Why send the request to a driver who may be 15 minutes away when I'm dropping off across the street in 5 minutes?


. Thanks for clearing that out,I meant that the request overlapping with the rider in the car is similar to a ping coming through for a line ride,the only difference that I understand is there won't be two different riders inside ur car,but for a driver of won't be any different. Drop of and the app will take u to ur next pax waiting. Timing is very crucial for this feature to be successful.Impatient Uber Pax won't wait too long for you to drop off the pax who makes u stop at 7/11 right before the destination.it's a wonderful feature and I'd love to see how it unfolds practically.


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## nooneyouknowof (Sep 28, 2015)

Omaha here. Haven't heard anything about it.


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## ZoomZoomZoom (Aug 31, 2015)

Horsebm said:


> I have had a number of these ride requests and it works, very well.
> 
> It keeps you busy and can potentially increase drivers revenue. No need to wait for a ride request, you already have one, as soon as you drop off your 1st passenger.


Is this in Canada too ?


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

I'm not sure if it is in Canada or not. I would e mail Uber and ask them if it is available.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Horsebm said:


> I have had a number of these ride requests and it works, very well.
> 
> It keeps you busy and can potentially increase drivers revenue. No need to wait for a ride request, you already have one, as soon as you drop off your 1st passenger.


Not if your avoiding certain areas which are minimum fare ride area's


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

a major problem with this feature is ... what happens if you're matched to the 2nd trip and then the 1st rider decides he wants to add additional stops to his existing trip? Already happened to me tonight


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Ziggy said:


> a major problem with this feature is ... what happens if you're matched to the 2nd trip and then the 1st rider decides he wants to add additional stops to his existing trip? Already happened to me tonight


To avoid that feature just remove address out of you app. Just type pax address into google maps for navigation. If Uber app does not have end destination they can't give you a additional ping.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Digits said:


> . Thanks for clearing that out,I meant that the request overlapping with the rider in the car is similar to a ping coming through for a line ride,the only difference that I understand is there won't be two different riders inside ur car,but for a driver of won't be any different. Drop of and the app will take u to ur next pax waiting. Timing is very crucial for this feature to be successful.Impatient Uber Pax won't wait too long for you to drop off the pax who makes u stop at 7/11 right before the destination.it's a wonderful feature and I'd love to see how it unfolds practically.


What if you want to stop to eat or take a bathroom break or get gas?? How you supposed to go offline if you have another pax prior to dropping off your current pax???


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## Digits (Sep 17, 2015)

Yes Txchick, that's exactly the point. It will be difficult to do any of those things


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## PTUber (Sep 16, 2015)

I haven't seen it yet in Minneapolis but I like the idea. As far as concerns with taking a break or current PAX extends I would assume you 1. don't have to accept the 2nd trip or 2. you can cancel.


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

It's an exciting way to cut down on dead time and empty miles.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

PTUber said:


> I haven't seen it yet in Minneapolis but I like the idea. As far as concerns with taking a break or current PAX extends I would assume you 1. don't have to accept the 2nd trip or 2. you can cancel.


If you don't accept the 2nd trip for whatever reason it will effect your acceptance rate.


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## TheHammer (Jan 4, 2015)

That feature has been in San Diego for a while now. Works good.


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## JMBF831 (Aug 13, 2015)

Clearly there are Pros and Cons

My concerns have been mentioned: Pax #1 has an additional stop before you get to the true destination. What if you want to take a quick restroom or bite to eat break because you're in an area you like to stop at? Too bad! Uber on lol


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## Tixx (Aug 27, 2015)

I don't like the idea of fiddling with the phone while driving. It's enough that you are trying to get your passenger from A-B safely then here you are accepting the next rider???


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## ocbob2 (Aug 18, 2015)

I bet it doesn't surge as much with this feature!


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## NothingLeftToLose (Oct 8, 2015)

I had one last night and I don't really care for it. I had a drop off in a bad section of town and didn't want the request. Also, I REALLY had to pee but now I have to choose between my acceptance rate, my personal comfort or potentially bring robbed. I feel like this is Uber trying to force fares on me when I may not be in a position to take them. The whole appeal of Uber ( for me ) is the flexibility to take fares when and where I want. I have a method that works for me and I'd like to stick with it - it doesn't involve taking fares in high volume/low rate aread like ASU. I rather have one 12 dollar fare versus three 4 dollar fares. Drop the acceptance rate penalty for these requests and I love the feature. As much as I'd like to blindly believe this is Uber trying to help it's partners, it feels way too much like a control mechanism. Careful Uber... when this starts to feel like a call center on wheels, you might be crossing that very thin line between contractor and employee.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Txchick said:


> Not if your avoiding certain areas which are minimum fare ride area's


 You don't have to accept the ride request. Let it time out, drop your current passenger than rate and go offline. No problem.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Txchick said:


> If you don't accept the 2nd trip for whatever reason it will effect your acceptance rate.


So what, I accept, 99% of my ride requests, if I don't accept the occasional one, no problem. "no skin off my nose". My weekly acceptance rating is well above the danger zone.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Txchick said:


> What if you want to stop to eat or take a bathroom break or get gas?? How you supposed to go offline if you have another pax prior to dropping off your current pax???


With Uber you never know when the ride requests will come in or even back to back requests. If you have to piss, use your Starbucks cup, make sure you dump it at the next red light or stop sign. If you don't have time to dump it between your drop off and pick up, just put the cup lid on, no one will know but you. If you want to eat, carry a string cheese, health food bar or an apple, whatever you can snack on. As far as gas, you shouldn't ever let your tank get so low that you can not complete a ride request or two or three or... Unless your driving a H-2 Hummer and I doubt that.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Ziggy said:


> a major problem with this feature is ... what happens if you're matched to the 2nd trip and then the 1st rider decides he wants to add additional stops to his existing trip? Already happened to me tonight


Very good point. That scenario has not happened to me, yet. I can only imaging that one day it will occur. How did you handle this situation ?


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Tixx said:


> I don't like the idea of fiddling with the phone while driving. It's enough that you are trying to get your passenger from A-B safely then here you are accepting the next rider???


It only takes a fraction of a second to tap the accept button.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

Horsebm said:


> How did you handle this situation ?


There was no way to handle it per se ... since I was still in the middle of the 1st trip. Though I'm quite sure that the 2nd trip pax canceled at some point after I didn't show and probably was pissed at the next driver ... because the 1st car (me) didn't p/u the trip since I was already on a trip.

Gonna head to the office on Monday/Tuesday and make sure that ignoring the 2nd trip doesn't count against my acceptance rate ... since I was technically still on a trip and clearly couldn't p/u new trip until the 1st trip got to its final destination.

Probably would have been a better feature had Uber pushed a notice to the screen where we could hit a Yes / No button ... Is the current destination the final destination? Then we could ask our pax ... and if *Yes *- Uber sends us the next trip; if *No* - Uber sends it to the next closest car.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

Totally irks me that there is no way to talk with the programmers or app dev team. I've created dozens of apps ... and I'm quite sure I could have provided input that would have eliminated many of the Uber app issues. *clearly none of the app developers have ever p/u pax ... maybe they've never driven a car ... lol


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Acceptance rate should not be greatly affected by refusing what will amount to, at most, 1 trip per day. Your rate is gauged by how many times you tap accept, not how many trips you complete. So all those times someone pinged you over and over cancelling for whatever reason, those count as accepted. Same for any cancelled trip. If you're really that worried accept and then see if pax cancels while you piss or eat.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Ziggy, I couldn't agree with you more. Thanks for your response.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Horsebm said:


> With Uber you never know when the ride requests will come in or even back to back requests. If you have to piss, use your Starbucks cup, make sure you dump it at the next red light or stop sign. If you don't have time to dump it between your drop off and pick up, just put the cup lid on, no one will know but you. If you want to eat, carry a string cheese, health food bar or an apple, whatever you can snack on. As far as gas, you shouldn't ever let your tank get so low that you can not complete a ride request or two or three or... Unless your driving a H-2 Hummer and I doubt that.


Your suggestion for a tee-tee in a cup for women is a no go.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Txchick said:


> Your suggestion for a tee-tee in a cup for women is a no go.


You are correct, it's time to invest in a hospital bedpan.


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## jrboy (Sep 14, 2015)

what if they cancel after 5 minutes do you still get the cancellation fee? i say we strike on oct 16th...uber is getting out of hand. they just raised the srf.


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## GlenGreezy (Sep 21, 2015)

Txchick said:


> What if you want to stop to eat or take a bathroom break or get gas?? How you supposed to go offline if you have another pax prior to dropping off your current pax???


Don't.


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## Old Rocker (Aug 20, 2015)

Txchick said:


> What if you want to stop to eat or take a bathroom break or get gas?? How you supposed to go offline if you have another pax prior to dropping off your current pax???


Depends


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

Txchick said:


> If you don't accept the 2nd trip for whatever reason it will effect your acceptance rate.


Refusing to accept another ride during a trip should never count against your acceptance rate. You have a right to stop to eat, get gas, clean up the car, stretch your legs, take a mental break or whatever the heck you want.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

GlenGreezy said:


> Don't.


Accept and go do your thing. When they call tell them you didn't even realize you accepted the ride and you are now in the shitter trying to get the attention of the staff to bring you toilet paper. But you'll be there as soon as you can. Of course, if they want to cancel and order another uber that would be fine too.


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## Nick781 (Dec 7, 2014)

This is called UberPool in Boston. I've done it many times.


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## JDJ (Apr 15, 2015)

Nick781 said:


> This is called UberPool in Boston. I've done it many times.


UberPool and what they are talking about in this thread are 2 different things.


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## RamzFanz (Jan 31, 2015)

Nick781 said:


> This is called UberPool in Boston. I've done it many times.


It's different. Pool is more than one passenger in the car at a time, this is not.


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## Hstrynrd (Sep 6, 2015)

It's not in Springfield yet.


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## JimS (Aug 18, 2015)

Txchick said:


> Your suggestion for a tee-tee in a cup for women is a no go.





Horsebm said:


> You are correct, it's time to invest in a hospital bedpan.


http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/lady-j-adapter-for-little-john-pilot-urinal.html


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## Uber_Saab (Aug 20, 2015)

Not available in Burlington, VT. I emailed and asked. They said nope. But they also called it UberPool. I think their technical support is confused.


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## itsablackmarket (May 12, 2015)

So you're basically a bus..


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

JimS said:


> http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/lady-j-adapter-for-little-john-pilot-urinal.html


JimS, that's is so funny, great post. I had no idea anyone even made, equipment like that.


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## JimS (Aug 18, 2015)

Horsebm said:


> JimS, that's is so funny, great post. I had no idea anyone even made, equipment like that.


It's much harder for pilots to "pull over" and go...


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## JimS (Aug 18, 2015)

Uber_Saab said:


> Not available in Burlington, VT. I emailed and asked. They said nope. But they also called it UberPool. I think their technical support is confused.


UberPool is not stacked rides. They don't have a term for this feature. Stacked rides simply mean that if you are anticipated to be the closest ping to a ride request, it will be assigned to you rather than someone further out. UberPool is picking up additional riders as you drive along, presumably headed in the same general direction. Strangers often share a taxi in New York City. It's sort of like that.


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

Uber_Saab said:


> Not available in Burlington, VT. I emailed and asked. They said nope. But they also called it UberPool. I think their technical support is confused.


This is a "set Destination" feature, not Uber pool. They are wrong, you are correct, they are confused.


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