# Unmasking the Destination or "Show me the Drop Off Location"



## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Should there be a Threshold each Local Uber Team could set to "UnMask the Destination"?

For you City/Area, what should the Trip Distance be that Uber should UnMask the Destination. That is to allow Driver to decide whether to Accept the Request or not?

Have you ever turned down a Trip because the destination was too far and/or in a direction you did not want to drive?


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## UberGTA (Apr 14, 2015)

I just think we should have a right to make informed choices re accepting and coordinating pickups, based on all pertinent info, destination included.

It doesn't even necessarily tie to whether we do or don't want to drive a certain distance be it short or long. Anyone who drives in the downtown core of any city with tight laws knows that the destination factors into how to effectively coordinate a passenger pickup. Reasonable people - mostly, people who have themselves ever driven in the area they are trying to get picked up from - understand this and have no issue with providing this info. In fact, they honestly believe that they already have provided it by entering it into the app, and have no idea that Uber has kept it hidden from us. When we educate them differently, they find that pretty shitty.

RE your poll, you didn't have an Unmask All option. You should add that.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

I did not put "UnMask All" in Poll on purpose. 

I wanted to get an idea of Unmasking by Distance for Drivers. Just didn't want to get the "screw Uber not showing destination, they should always show for all trips" poll vote as much as I understand this as a Driver. 

And finally, I also don't believe this would be a realistic decision by Uber as another reason (doesn't match their On-Demand Goals). But I strongly believe that UnMaking by distance and even allowing the Local Uber Office to determine the distance threshold for their local city/area would benefit Uber Goals, Rider Satisfaction, and Driver Profitability.

But I'm not that smart since I've never been a Goldman Sachs Analyst.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

SCdave said:


> Should there be a Threshold each Local Uber Team could set to "UnMask the Destination"?
> 
> For you City/Area, what should the Trip Distance be that Uber should UnMask the Destination. That is to allow Driver to decide whether to Accept the Request or not?
> 
> Have you ever turned down a Trip because the destination was too far and/or in a direction you did not want to drive?


Where is the unmask all option?


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## Backdash (Jan 28, 2015)

yea unmask some, wait, no, unmask all, wait, no, unmask...oh bite me, nobody is going to unmask anything.
Why bother?


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

Unmask all. Readers here have heard me spout repeatedly about this. It's one of the core problems with the system.

UBER believes they cannot get reliable service from drivers who are informed as to the passenger destination beforehand. They fear "cherry picking."

Since the UBER system is set up to operate on a demand taxi model, their fears are probably justified. 

But because they hide destination, UBER is of limited use to drivers who work on an appointment model. I run scheduled jobs for private clients. Consequently, I can only log in to UBER when I have a two or three hour gaps between appointments. For this reason, I only end up logging in a few hours each week.

Customers are also I'll-served by their masking of destination. First, because there are fewer available cars than there could be, and secondly, because drivers circumvent the masking by using the annoying work around: ACCEPT/CALL CUSTOMER FOR DESTINATION INFORMATION/CANCEL. 

Hopefully a competing company will come along with a better idea. UBER will never make this necessary change.

The ideal app would match up the passenger and driver in a completely open transaction-where both parties are informed beforehand as to what the trip entails. 

Sometimes I want short trips, sometimes I want North bound trips, for instance. The app should match me with passengers looking for a similar trip.

UBER most definitely has the means to accommodate this sort of highly tailored customer/driver pairing. The benefits are obvious. The drivers could be more efficient, and, customers could get better service. It would be possible to tailor pricing on a case by case basis as well.

But that's another can of worms.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

I'm really trying to get a compromise. I'm trying to get a benefit for all three parties - Uber, Rider and Driver.

If I added "Unmask/Show destination for All". I know that the majority would check this off. Even I would.

But I really would like to know if we took "All" out of the equation, what would be the Distance that you would recommend as needed for your city/area? 

Maybe I should say, instead of from a Driver's Perspective, " If you were the GM for your City/Area, and wanted to maximize availability, speed from Rider Request to Acceptance to actually having a Driver with PAX in the vehicle and hitting the Start Button", what would the ideal UnMask the Destination Threshold be?


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## Backdash (Jan 28, 2015)

nobody votes, nobody cares


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

Why not layout your possible solution to this question. I'm not really getting it teacher.


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Damn right it should be unmassked. Cherry picking or not, im getting tired of driving people 30min out of the city with no PAX on the way back for another 30min drive. Might as well work for free.


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## Red (Nov 8, 2014)

Lyft have a "destination filter" - when you only get calls in the direction you want/need to go.
Guess what - I forgot to turn the app off few days ago on my way home, got distracted by another fares and after having it on for HOURS saw it still running.
Never got a ping.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

SCdave said:


> I'm really trying to get a compromise. I'm trying to get a benefit for all three parties - Uber, Rider and Driver.
> 
> If I added "Unmask/Show destination for All". I know that the majority would check this off. Even I would.
> 
> ...


If you unmask at a specified destination distance you would have to require it be inputted also. What happens if pax lie?

And if it were unmasked over 10 miles for instance you would know any NOT shown is less than 10. If it's surging and you think you'll get another chance you would turn down short trips. Nothing worse than 4.0 surge and the pax goes a half mile and the surge is gone.

Interestingly I saw nothing in the Houston City ordinance about refusing rides due to destination. Race and disability were mentioned but not destination or I think location of pickup. Not sure if they're addressed in the taxi rules or not.

But if the city doesn't require it in order to operate as a TNC driver and Uber is not our employee then destination cherry picking should be perfectly fine.

I say Uber should GTFO of the way and let the chips fall where they may. If they are not a transportation company then it's none of their damn business.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

stuber said:


> Why not layout your possible solution to this question. I'm not really getting it teacher.


I'm trying for a forum discussion. Don't think I'm the teacher but a student so though it best to ask some questions and not as many statements.

I could also just say this is what I hate about Uber and F'k 'em. Nothing wrong with that either but I just chose not to.


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## CNJtrepreneur (Mar 25, 2015)

I think that distance and/or DIRECTION should be unmasked.

Let's say I'm heading home at the end of my intended "shift". Do I want to drive in the opposite direction? No. Would I pick someone up who's heading into roughly the same area? Of course! But under the current system, I don't have any way to determine that - short of accepting the trip, calling the rider, and finding out where they're going. Which is a waste of time and an annoyance to both of us.

Last night, as I was heading home (45 min drive), I got a ping from 18 mins away. Just felt sorry for the guy, since it was 4 AM and if the system was reaching out THAT far, that meant there was nobody else around. So I took a chance. Turned out that he was actually going in the same direction. So I made an extra $ 65. And he made his red-eye flight. And everybody was happy.

But, the point is, I took a chance on that fare. If I was even a little more tired / in more of a hurry / whatever, the dude would have been stuck without a ride. And missed his flight. And been pissed-off at Uber.

In this case, it worked out. How many 1000's of trips don't work out like that?


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## CNJtrepreneur (Mar 25, 2015)

Another option (I hope someone from Uber is listening here...):

I think that some compromise between the current Uber system, and TaskRabbit's "draw an outline on the map where you'd like to work" approach, would be the best.

If you don't want to unmask the destination, at least let us choose the area in which we're willing to bounce around.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

SCdave said:


> I'm really trying to get a compromise. I'm trying to get a benefit for all three parties - Uber, Rider and Driver.
> 
> If I added "Unmask/Show destination for All". I know that the majority would check this off. Even I would.
> 
> ...


I think distance is only half the issue, the direction a driver is taken is just as important.

Ultimately this will get Uber in trouble as it defines the service as a Taxi dispatch service and not "Rideshare".

Rideshare is when the driver chooses the ride based on where he/she needs to get to AND sets the cost per seat.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

SCdave said:


> Should there be a Threshold each Local Uber Team could set to "UnMask the Destination"?
> 
> For you City/Area, what should the Trip Distance be that Uber should UnMask the Destination. That is to allow Driver to decide whether to Accept the Request or not?
> 
> Have you ever turned down a Trip because the destination was too far and/or in a direction you did not want to drive?


Looks like the tribe has spoken Dave, unmask all would've gotten 100%


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

CNJtrepreneur said:


> I think that distance and/or DIRECTION should be unmasked.
> 
> Let's say I'm heading home at the end of my intended "shift". Do I want to drive in the opposite direction? No. Would I pick someone up who's heading into roughly the same area? Of course! But under the current system, I don't have any way to determine that - short of accepting the trip, calling the rider, and finding out where they're going. Which is a waste of time and an annoyance to both of us.
> 
> ...


Agree totally. I have done the same thing. Awesome when you get paid to drive home. Not awesome when it's the wrong direction. It would make it more likely we would take those late night about to head home calls if we knew it would not be going the wrong way.

Imagine the scenario where I'm heading SW home and a driver a block away is heading NW home and we both get calls from the closest pax. But we get the "wrong" ones. Each going to the other driver's neighborhood. Just because we're a block closer to that pax. It makes no sense.


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> I think distance is only half the issue, the direction a driver is taken is just as important.
> 
> Ultimately this will get Uber in trouble as it defines the service as a Taxi dispatch service and not "Rideshare".
> 
> Rideshare is when the driver chooses the ride based on where he/she needs to get to AND sets the cost per seat.


You make a good point. It operates like a taxi dispatch. Ridesharing is a different model. But UBER doesn't ever get in trouble. Because they're not a transportation company.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Sydney Uber said:


> Looks like the tribe has spoken Dave, unmask all would've gotten 100%


Okay, so when will Uber decide to UnMask all?


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

...


SCdave said:


> Okay, so when will Uber decide to UnMask all?


...after they have so many cars in the system that knowing the destination won't make any difference. There will be 20 available cars for every request.


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## UberGTA (Apr 14, 2015)

It's sad that Uber has so little faith in it's own system and the ratio of drivers to customers. AND, that they don't see the $$ evaporating from their own coffers.

If I get the unlucky ping of a short customer when I'm ready to head in a certain direction, and another customer can't get serviced on a longer trip, that may result in a lost fare for Uber. 

So I get a $6 fare and Uber takes their $2.20 or so and meanwhile we both miss that $40 customer who then takes a taxi instead and spends $70, and maybe never tries Uber again. 

The alternative of course is that he/she keeps trying and gets cycled thru a few cancellations and then gives up, never tries Uber again.

Just search on Twitter "Uber cancelled" and see what I mean, it's a real problem.

Here's what they need to wake up and realize: There are Uber drivers from every part of a major city. There is a driver for every passenger's wish...and Uber holds the key to satisfying both sides - and that key is data. Get coding, and get drivers matched with passengers. The end.

And...minimum fare $10, flat rate to Uber of $2 - $1 from us, $1 from pax for the bullshit Safe Ride fee. 

Guys who want to do short hops for decent $ will do short hops for decent $. Guys who are ready to go home in a certain direction will go home in a certain direction. Guys who don't give a shit and will drive anything will drive anything. It will work out. 

And for the very small minority that it doesn't work out for, they can take a cab. Or black.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

SCdave said:


> Okay, so when will Uber decide to UnMask all?


Never. !


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## UberGTA (Apr 14, 2015)

Sydney Uber said:


> Never! .


ftfy


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

UberGTA said:


> ftfy


I'm a little slow from down under - please explain?


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## UberGTA (Apr 14, 2015)

Sydney Uber said:


> I'm a little slow from down under - please explain?


ftfy means "fixed that for you". It's mostly used when manipulating someone's words in jest.

In your case you put the . before the !

I'm saying your post would better be phrased "Never (EXCLAMATION) (period)"

lol


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

UberGTA said:


> ftfy means "fixed that for you". It's mostly used when manipulating someone's words in jest.
> 
> In your case you put the . before the !
> 
> ...


Who said the English language and good grammar would fall by the wayside because of the internet!

Always room for grammar Nazis on any forum!


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## UberGTA (Apr 14, 2015)

Not about grammer per se... I really think "Never! Period." is probably what you meant, right? lol


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

UberGTA said:


> Not about grammer per se... I really think "Never! Period." is probably what you meant, right? lol


I ain't gonna take on a Canuck over the English language! I mean we all know that you put on thongs to go for a walk - and that confuses the average American. But I still don't get how you guys can go to a Gas Bar and ask to buy **** Milk with a straight face!


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## UberGTA (Apr 14, 2015)

Sydney Uber said:


> I ain't gonna take on a Canuck over the English language! I mean we all know that you put on thongs to go for a walk - and that confuses the average American. But I still don't get how you guys can go to a Gas Bar and ask to buy **** Milk with a straight face!


LOL!! Touche

(who buys milk at the gas station tho? )


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

UberGTA said:


> LOL!! Touche
> 
> (who buys milk at the gas station tho? )


Ahh a difference! All our 7/Eleven stores ARE Gas Stations


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## UberGTA (Apr 14, 2015)

Sydney Uber said:


> Ahh a difference! All our 7/Eleven stores ARE Gas Stations


Yeah even that...a few of our big name grocery stores are open 24hrs...so really the only time we resort to 7-11 (or Hasty Market, or Rabba) for milk is on stat holidays when the grocers are closed. It's considerably more expensive...as is the other liquid staple, Coke. lol


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

Now that's funny. Pay attention, this is the way to spar.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

You are an Uber GM. You want to increase your profits. Keeping with the Uber Mother Ship policy Uber 1st, Rider Customers 2nd, State/Local Government 3rd, Lyft/Google Employees 4th (might need 1 or 2 someday), and Driver Partners.....

Anyway, you're the Uber GM in your City/Area, you get to test market UnMasking the Destination. How would you structure it and you need to back up your presentation.

Or do you just save this presentation for the day you turn in your letter of resignation?

** References to 7/11, Hasty Market, Rabba, milk, milk products, Canucks, Aussies, Maple Leafs, Kuala Bears, Joeys, Labatt, Jos Luis, Cricket, Vegemite, Curling, Netball, etc...are allowed in your presentation but discouraged.


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)




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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

There has to be a simpler way of doing this. Also doesn't uber let you charge a higher minimum fare to you have to pick up one or two towns away. In Iowa City, if we pick up in Tiffin or North Liberty (both about 5 or 6 miles away) there's a $15 minimum.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Lidman said:


> There has to be a simpler way of doing this. Also doesn't uber let you charge a higher minimum fare to you have to pick up one or two towns away. In Iowa City, if we pick up in Tiffin or North Liberty (both about 5 or 6 miles away) there's a $15 minimum.


 REALLY? I've never heard this before! Why isn't this in place EVERYWHERE?


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## cubs (Jul 1, 2015)

Unmask the destination. There are some partimers who also hve a day job who would want to have a customers destination near our work or home.


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Lidman said:


> There has to be a simpler way of doing this. Also doesn't uber let you charge a higher minimum fare to you have to pick up one or two towns away. In Iowa City, if we pick up in Tiffin or North Liberty (both about 5 or 6 miles away) there's a $15 minimum.


Sidecar lets you set your own price.

And yes, if you live and Uber between two different $$ zones, then you will easily see price difference.


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