# How precise is Uber pax app on showing Uber driver locations?



## Driv0rX (May 27, 2017)

Tried driving with 2 phones one with driver app other with passenger app as (seen on youtube) 
Supposedly it shows you where your competition is so you could find a spot where with no uber cars and get request coming out of there as you be closest driver to the pax requesting.

In reality all i got is confusion, rider app shows uber 2-3 car next to me on intersection i see no uber trade dress on either car in the front. Same story with uber cars supposedly driving towards me on opposite lane no uber logo in the front. 

Are uber lying about uber cars or whats the deal with so many cars falsely show as uber drivers?


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## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

I don't think it's very accurate.

I don't play the two phone game, but I've had a number of situations where I've arrived and the pax, who was watching me on their phone, thought I was still 4 minutes away.

I had a real fluky thing yesterday. I had dropped something off at a local hotel, and once I finished that little errand I went online. I was sitting in the hotel drive fiddling with some stuff, going online with Lyft, etc, and I got an Uber ping. I looked at the screen, and the map showed me some distance away from the pickup, but showed a 1-minute ETA and the address was the hotel. I looked up, and there were my pax!

So don't put too much stock in the ants you see on the screen. The best use of the pax app is to double check that YOU are really online when you think you are.


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## Driv0rX (May 27, 2017)

JimKE said:


> The best use of the pax app is to double check that YOU are really online when you think you are.


How that works?


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## Jagent (Jan 29, 2017)

Uber lies about available nearby drivers. They are known as 'ghost cars'..... they show up on the rider app, but if you drive to them, nothing is there.


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## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

Driv0rX said:


> How that works?


If you think you are online, but you're not getting any pings, turn on your rider app. You can have both running at the same time.

Check the class of service the rider app is set to. If it's set to X or Pool, and you're driving X, you should see a car over, or right next to, your little blue dot.

If you don't see a car over your dot, you are NOT online...no matter what your driver app says. In that case, go offline, close all apps, reboot your phone and try again. That should fix it.


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## uberebu (Jan 13, 2017)

The cars in the app aside from yours are to convey a message rather than be a 1 to 1 correspondence with reality. It's for the benefit of the rider not the driver.

What you should ask is, what is it they are trying to convey to the rider?

If you see cars everywhere, prices will be normal and a driver is near. Less cars visible, pay more and expect a wait. 

In other words. Uber and Lyft demand guague.


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## 68350 (May 24, 2017)

Why would you need 2 phones to monitor both the driver and rider apps? You can't run multiple apps? No problem here.


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## BigMonkey (Feb 27, 2017)

I was told by my Uber rep to not use the writer app to try and gauge how many drivers were available nearby. He said they rarely show an accurate count. And that is by Design. They want to show the writer and idea of how many cars were there but not show competition exactly how many cars they have in the field


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## NGOwner (Nov 15, 2016)

I've found that the actual location of the car vs. the location of the ant on the map can be up to 1/2 mile apart. If you take that into account, its no wonder that there is no trade dress on a car at an intersection. The car passed through that intersection 30+ seconds ago. Check it out for your car while driving. The ant that represents you is always about 1/4 - 1/2 mile behind you. It only catches up to you when you are stopped in one spot long enough for the ant to actually catch up to you.

[NG]Owner


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## More Cowbell (May 8, 2016)

Theres a couple minute delay if uber cars are moving. But if theyre sitting parked for a while waiting for a ping, its dead on. Ive checked quite a few times. Some areas of town, like downtown or airports where theres dozens of drivers everywhere, the map isnt accurate.


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

The uber computer is ALWAYS running behind you...
That's why you get lots of pings that originate...
From behind you...
Especially if you are on the freeway...
Rakos


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## Tihstae (Jan 31, 2017)

Rakos said:


> The uber computer is ALWAYS running behind you...
> That's why you get lots of pings that originate...
> From behind you...
> Especially if you are on the freeway...
> Rakos


Is that why? I thought it was Uber just screwing with drivers.


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## uberebu (Jan 13, 2017)

Didn't they admit a while back that the cars in the app are NOT accurate representations but just symbolic? I regularly have people tell me the app has me coming down the street from the other direction. So they cross the street to make it easier. All the while I'm now having to make a u-turn. Last night I picked someone up and they told me I pulled up 2 minutes earlier on the app. Me virtually/digitally pulling up while I was a mile away.

It's just a gui


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