# ride requests to closest driver: by road distance or as the crow flies?



## uberchicken (May 9, 2015)

any of yall know how the app finds the closest driver?


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Closest and/or with highest rank. At least thats what i gathered here on the forums.


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## Like...are you my uber? (Jun 11, 2015)

As the crow flies from my experience. Also, I really don't think they factor in ratings. When did you hear this KGB7?


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Like...are you my uber? said:


> As the crow flies from my experience. Also, I really don't think they factor in ratings. When did you hear this KGB7?


There was a thread a week ago, where a driver talked to the programmer who worked on the algorithm for the app. So take it with a grain of salt.


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## Like...are you my uber? (Jun 11, 2015)

Interesting. I'm gonna have to probe some uber employees on their way to work this week.


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## MJ Khan (Jun 3, 2015)

If your acceptance rate is higher than the closest driver you will get the call


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## Like...are you my uber? (Jun 11, 2015)

MJ Khan said:


> If your acceptance rate is higher than the closest driver you will get the call


How did you discover this?


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## MJ Khan (Jun 3, 2015)

Experimenting


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## Like...are you my uber? (Jun 11, 2015)

Are you positive about this or is it a strong theory of yours?


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

From my personal experience, siting in a parking lot with 160 drivers, closest gets the ping. Do to Uber manipulating the software.

But i also got pings from another State (im in DC and PAX is in VA), even though there were drivers closer to PAX in VA.

Try wrapping your head around this one.


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## Like...are you my uber? (Jun 11, 2015)

So many mysteries. My rating is high but acceptance rate is low. I see manipulation in the way they dole out uber pool trips, but I always thought uberx trips were just given to the closest driver. I'm gonna do more research, i.e. pestering uber engineers


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

Like...are you my uber? said:


> they factor in ratings


while at Austin Aiport during SXSW ... with 5 drivers in virtually the same spot ... the drivers the rolled out first to the airport were the drivers from Houston with brand new Austin profiles (hence 5*) whereas the 3 of us from Austin ranging from 4.78 to 4.86 got pinged later ... and also in highest rating first order. Might have been a coincidence ... but we've seen that happen at other locations too


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

At Dulles Airport in VA, Uber has implemented a Que system. First come, first served. Works really well. 
I got a ping while was on a toilet at a hotel and i was one of the furthest away from PAX at airport.


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

At Reagan National Airport in VA, closest gets the ping. Even though Uber supposed to use same Que system as Dulles airport.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

KGB7 said:


> First come, first served


Uber has FIFO (First In, First Out) Queue in other airports too (ATL, SAN, IAH, maybe others) ... I really wish they bring the FIFO queue to all airports. Reward the guys/gals who have sat at the airport the longest. Other than the one time during SXSW ... I haven't sat at the airport and don't plan on sitting at the airport ... if I'm going to just sit somewhere, give me a couch, big screen and A/C


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Ziggy said:


> Uber has FIFO (First In, First Out) Queue in other airports too (ATL, SAN, IAH, maybe others) ... I really wish they bring the FIFO queue to all airports. Reward the guys/gals who have sat at the airport the longest. Other than the one time during SXSW ... I haven't sat at the airport and don't plan on sitting at the airport ... if I'm going to just sit somewhere, give me a couch, big screen and A/C


Longest i waited was 25min, shortest 10min. Its a 30-45min drive back in to DC depending on traffic from Dulles airport.
So i hang out in hotels lounge, watching TV next to airport. No reason to burn fuel to keep AC running. And i got pings while was dropping a doose.

Work smart, not hard.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Ziggy said:


> while at Austin Aiport during SXSW ... with 5 drivers in virtually the same spot ... the drivers the rolled out first to the airport were the drivers from Houston with brand new Austin profiles (hence 5*) whereas the 3 of us from Austin ranging from 4.78 to 4.86 got pinged later ... and also in highest rating first order. Might have been a coincidence ... but we've seen that happen at other locations too


That would also explain why new drivers seem to do so well the first couple if weeks until their rating goes down.


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> That would also explain why new drivers seem to do so well the first couple if weeks until their rating goes down.


Yup, my first 3 days were like being high on acid, then my rating plummeted. So here i am, with the rest of you losers, pounding sand in my free time.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

KGB7 said:


> my first 3 days were like being high on acid, then my rating plummeted. So here i am, with the rest of you losers, pounding sand in my free time





Fuzzyelvis said:


> That would also explain why new drivers seem to do so well the first couple if weeks until their rating goes down.


Stupid Uber ... they need to hire some Strategist (PhD's like Google) ... 'cause any pax will tell you that pax would prefer riding with a 4.8* driver with 500+ trips than a 5* driver with 20 trips. The 4.8* 500+ trip driver knows the pulse of the city; whereas the 5* 20 trip driver barely knows if he has a pulse


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## Uber-Doober (Dec 16, 2014)

Ziggy said:


> while at Austin Aiport during SXSW ... with 5 drivers in virtually the same spot ... the drivers the rolled out first to the airport were the drivers from Houston with brand new Austin profiles (hence 5*) whereas the 3 of us from Austin ranging from 4.78 to 4.86 got pinged later ... and also in highest rating first order. Might have been a coincidence ... but we've seen that happen at other locations too


^^^
That's what I asked earlier in another thread.


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## BigDan (Jun 23, 2015)

Since Uber spends much of it's marketing and advertisement funds on finding new drivers. It would make sense for them to: "set the hook" and reel in the new drivers. There are probably many more factors then listed here. Such as: time on app, last fare recorded, distance traveled just to name a few. Think about it. It cost Uber more money to find drivers than Customers. You have the Customer's in your car. Why not work them?

Summerfest is opening today are so are FIFO queues. Uber is paying for prime real estate to keep demand high. So they need drivers. After 20 rides both Uber and newbie know if this is something they will pursue. Let hem go first. What I want are the repeat Customer's who will inform me about them. If I can get a fare to pay for my commute. That is working the system to your benefit. 

Everyday, I have the same Customer pick-ups at the same location. Because I anticipate or know their schedule. Ultimately it seems to me the keys to success are driven less by knowledge of the App and more by knowledge of your Customer's needs. 

Lastly, pax is an offensive term. Treat your pax like Customer's and you'll worry less about how the Application works. Yes, I am an independent driver for several TNC's. Customer service pays more than the application. Applications are the tools I use to develop Clients.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

*"ride requests to closest driver: by road distance or as the crow flies?"*

*Neither. *
*As the uberchicken flies!*
**


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## uberchicken (May 9, 2015)

and it is one amazing sight, i'm not gonna lie.


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## Like...are you my uber? (Jun 11, 2015)

BigDan said:


> Since Uber spends much of it's marketing and advertisement funds on finding new drivers. It would make sense for them to: "set the hook" and reel in the new drivers. There are probably many more factors then listed here. Such as: time on app, last fare recorded, distance traveled just to name a few. Think about it. It cost Uber more money to find drivers than Customers. You have the Customer's in your car. Why not work them?
> 
> Summerfest is opening today are so are FIFO queues. Uber is paying for prime real estate to keep demand high. So they need drivers. After 20 rides both Uber and newbie know if this is something they will pursue. Let hem go first. What I want are the repeat Customer's who will inform me about them. If I can get a fare to pay for my commute. That is working the system to your benefit.
> 
> ...


That might work in the Midwest, but in SF we are dealing with cheap tech ******s


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## Nova828 (Oct 15, 2014)

In Portland, ME it used to be as the crow flies but now it appears that they calculate by road distance. I live right across the river from downtown, a 10 minute drive away and used to get pings from downtown that said "3 minutes" even when other cars were already downtown. Now I only get downtown pings when no other drivers are there and they correctly say anywhere from 8-10 minutes.


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## KGB7 (Apr 23, 2015)

As of today, I think it's rating based.

I was in Arlington, VA and get a ping 10min away from Gtown Uni. I accept the ping and open PaxUber app. Sure enough, there are two cars that are 5min closer to Gtown Uni then me.


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