# Driving Around vs. Staying Parked



## UberComic

Do most of you drive around until you get a request, or do you just park and wait it out? Gas and mileage are always a concern when you don't have a fare.

I live in Pasadena, where there are a decent amount of riders/drivers. I usually drop off my daughter at day care in the morning and then go online. If I make it to a Starbucks with adjacent parking I go offline until i'm seated with my coffee. I then go online until it goes off. I do something similar at mealtimes. I found out by checking the rider app that other drivers hang out at Starbucks and fast food places with wifi as well. 

I also find while driving in underserved areas at slow hours I am the closest car to a wider area of town. Plus riders in poorer areas generally are more appreciative of the service, especially when you can get there quickly.


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## GuitarJunkie

I get anxious so I carry my baby guitar in the trunk a lot. Unless the ride takes me to BFE, I just find a good spot to position myself and wait it out. Considering the cost of driving empty, i find that trolling around is usually unefective. There are spots where there are just too many drivers. I figure they thinking the same thing and patience is my friend.


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## UberComic

Yeah, I carry my iPad for writing. I may get a small folding table and chair to keep in the back, or find shady city parks with picnic tables.


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## alanab

When it's nice out I try to find somewhere to get out of the car. Sitting in a car seat for hours on end sucks. When you get out you are bound to hear that phone start beeping too.


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## UberXNash

I have a spot in Nashville that I can go that hits downtown, opryland, the airport, and other good spots, and I can chill inside and watch tv and easily hop in and go on request. When not doing that I will go and park in a lot somewhere popular, put on netflix on my phone and route the sound through my speakers and have a mini theater.


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## Jeeves

Even when working saturday nights, there can be downtime. If I count starting a shift, Id say my downtime is 40%. I don't drive much without a passenger. Unless I end up in an area where chance of getting one is little to none. I figure overall even my drives to pickup location are nearly as much as my drives with someone in the car. That means my cost is nearly double the mileage that I get paid for.


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## TheSheibs

I have one spot that always has parking so as soon as I drop off someone I start heading to that spot. On a good day I only get a couple blocks before I get a request. On slow days I make it all the way to that spot and wait it out. Longest I have waited is about 20-30 minutes but that was a very slow day. The spot I go to also usually gets ignored.


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## SunSmith

I prefer to stay parked and usually pull out my Kindle. However, if I have half an hour without a call, and I'm not between two Ubers in the same area (which means I need to move a little), I'll move into an underserved area.


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## remy

With so many uber drivers out there I stay put. U just never when you will get the "bing." But man! So many uber drivers how can one make good living...means longer hours and wait time plus 20% commission to uber... Frustrating! So ya, stay put don't want to burn more gas.


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## SPQR

I wait at home for the first trip. Depending on the location where I dropped off the first client I drive slowly on non crowded roads towards the places I am more familiar with, by avoiding crowded roads when the phone starts beeping I have time to pull over and enter the address on the GPS to go to the next client. The last thing I want is to get a ticket for using electronic devices while driving.


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## SeahawkTim

The area I live in doesn't get much in the way of riders, so I usually end up having to drive out to either Echo Park or Hollywood to start the day. (Which is fine, since gas is a good 10-15¢ a gallon cheaper there). I'll usually fill up for the day before turning on the app, and finding a place to hang out for the first ride to come in. Not easy in LA with its multitude of parking restrictions, but it's manageable.

I learned early on not to chase riders/surges. Once I drop off a rider, I'll drive a block (just so it doesn't look creepy) and then pull over and wait for the next one. The only exceptions to the rule are either 1) I dropped someone off in an area that I'm completely unfamiliar with (like Redondo Beach), or 2) it's getting close to the end of the night and I start driving in the direction of home, leaving the app on in case a ride pops up before I get there.


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## UberComic

I stay in Pasadena until a rider asks me to leave. I find that the first or second Pasadena rider will have me going somewhere far like one of the airports or downtown. I go online around 8:30 in the morning and park near the hotels.


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## Jeeves

I have been appreciating the adventure lately. Just takes one ride to really take me somewhere new, often then that grows into an interesting shift. Of course there are usual patterns that I encounter. Just lately Ive been more excited about the oddball rides to new locals. When Im further out I find it takes longer to get a request, but in general those requests will be more highway driving.


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## Sydney Uber

Yep, I try to employ the drop and stop strategy. Especially with a V8 black car. Look on the riders app, find some area with clear air between me and surrounding Blacks


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## Nick Manning

I also go to a fast food place or coffee shop where I'll buy a coffee and sit until I get my first call. Some people have told me that you get more calls when you drive around but I can't risk wasting gas in an AWD town car.


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## HisShadowX

UberComic said:


> Do most of you drive around until you get a request, or do you just park and wait it out? Gas and mileage are always a concern when you don't have a fare.
> 
> I live in Pasadena, where there are a decent amount of riders/drivers. I usually drop off my daughter at day care in the morning and then go online. If I make it to a Starbucks with adjacent parking I go offline until i'm seated with my coffee. I then go online until it goes off. I do something similar at mealtimes. I found out by checking the rider app that other drivers hang out at Starbucks and fast food places with wifi as well.
> 
> I also find while driving in underserved areas at slow hours I am the closest car to a wider area of town. Plus riders in poorer areas generally are more appreciative of the service, especially when you can get there quickly.


Mike, I am with you 100% about the poor areas. They are completely cool and seem overjoyed someone is actually out there to help them! It makes this job much more rewarding that we are helping people actually moving around when they need it.

As for me, I do a little bit of both.

Our streets in Chicago run North and South, East and West. One of the major highways running South to North allows me easy access to the main streets in Chicago.

One of the streets the rich yuppies in Hyde Park know about (Since they dont like going to the Dan Ryan) is Lake Shore Dr and once I come in off of 47th I typically turn it on. If I don't have a fare by the time I get to the stop i stop and sit then I just sit and wait (Which isn't long).


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## Sydney Uber

Nick Manning said:


> I also go to a fast food place or coffee shop where I'll buy a coffee and sit until I get my first call. Some people have told me that you get more calls when you drive around but I can't risk wasting gas in an AWD town car.


I get a hell of a lot of paper-work and correspondence done whilst waiting. Hell....If UBER kept me busier, then they wouldn't be getting so many emails from me and their lives would be easier!

The other problem is at 50 years of age (don't laugh) I've just discovered iTunes! I've recently loaded up stuff from my youth like Bruce Springsteen's Wild Innocent...., Keith Jarrett, Pat Methany, Sting and been wallowing in the tunes from days when life was simple. No mortgage, no overgrown backyard, no messy garage, no narky wife - yes the days when I was known as Sir Duction!


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## UberClown

I'm still brand new to this. I've driven 3 days total, 2 afternoon (4-10pm shifts) and one late weekend (9pm-4am) and so far I've been averaging $12/hr at best once I factor gas into the mix.

I drive in Chicago and I'm not from the area nor do I go out to bars (or ever really have) so the nightlife is new to me.

The biggest mistakes I've made so far are:
1) Owning a Chrysler Pacifica, about 17mpg combined woohoo! (but to be fair, many UberX riders vocally appreciate the extra space)
2) Driving between fares. Enter the mpg monster again.
3) Chasing Surges.

I'm going to go out again tonight and this time try to find an area with a lot of activity and park my butt to see how it works. I don't know how it is in other cities, but here the surge is broken down in 3 main areas of the city. I'm thinking to find a good spot with activity near the corner where all 3 meet to increase my chances of of being in the right place at the right time.

I spent 30 min in a 3x surge area with no fare at 12:15am-12:45am. I can only assume it's because I kept driving around. I got my first fare after the surge slowly worked its way from 3x to 2.75x, 2.5x.... ... .. 1x. About 2 seconds after the surge was gone, someone binged me.

Anyone got any more tips? (Other than get a better car, I'm working on it)


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## HisShadowX

UberClown said:


> I'm still brand new to this. I've driven 3 days total, 2 afternoon (4-10pm shifts) and one late weekend (9pm-4am) and so far I've been averaging $12/hr at best once I factor gas into the mix.
> 
> I drive in Chicago and I'm not from the area nor do I go out to bars (or ever really have) so the nightlife is new to me.
> 
> The biggest mistakes I've made so far are:
> 1) Owning a Chrysler Pacifica, about 17mpg combined woohoo! (but to be fair, many UberX riders vocally appreciate the extra space)
> 2) Driving between fares. Enter the mpg monster again.
> 3) Chasing Surges.
> 
> I'm going to go out again tonight and this time try to find an area with a lot of activity and park my butt to see how it works. I don't know how it is in other cities, but here the surge is broken down in 3 main areas of the city. I'm thinking to find a good spot with activity near the corner where all 3 meet to increase my chances of of being in the right place at the right time.
> 
> I spent 30 min in a 3x surge area with no fare at 12:15am-12:45am. I can only assume it's because I kept driving around. I got my first fare after the surge slowly worked its way from 3x to 2.75x, 2.5x.... ... .. 1x. About 2 seconds after the surge was gone, someone binged me.
> 
> Anyone got any more tips? (Other than get a better car, I'm working on it)


Yes, I'm from Chicago and I average around 30 an hour in the slow days and areas.

What times do you work and what areas do you work in?


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## UberClown

HisShadowX said:


> Yes, I'm from Chicago and I average around 30 an hour in the slow days and areas.
> 
> What times do you work and what areas do you work in?


With having such a gas guzzler, I can pretty much only work the busiest times, otherwise I spend so much on gas it's not worth it. I'm hoping I can change that by using the parking method more.

I tried the 4pm weekday rush with little luck, but again, I'm pretty sure I was doing it wrong. I had the most fares around Lake Street in the loop.

Last night I was all over the place. I'm thinking of staying around the North Ave/Milwaukee Ave area (Bucktown/Wicker Park?) because it seems pretty busy and it's right around where all 3 surge areas meet. This way if it's slow where I'm at and a surge comes up, I can relocate quickly. Tonight's plan is basically try to stay in that North/Milwaukee area and keep coming back to it after each drop off unless I get re-beeped.

I'm debating a couple other options too. I have been hearing Lakeview is a great place to go, as well as Old Town/Gold Coast. The latter two seem good because, again, they're on the border between two surge areas.

The biggest thing I'm going to focus on is parking. It's kind of nerve wracking for a new driver to just sit there and wait because you feel like you're not in control, but it seems driving around only gives you a false sense of control at the expense of gas. Kind of like taking the streets vs. expressway during traffic. You're not actually getting anywhere faster, but it sure feels like you are.


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## HisShadowX

What your going to want to do is make a plan for yourself and decide what your going to want to do how your going to do it.

For example this is how I plan my Sundays.

6:00pm - 7:30pm - Hyde Park
• Hyde Park is full of transplant kids from outside of Chicago. If they travel anywhere it will be to the North Side or downtown. 
•The end result is twenty dollars each trip.
• Problem is the drive back and forth takes up gas and time but during this time you should have made 50-60 dollars.
• Lake Shore Drive and the Dan Ryan two major highways going north and south will take you north.

7:30pm - 1000pm Alternating between roosevelt and state and Hyde park.
• Kids in Hyde Park are not going as far at this point but some do so I come back to this area often.
• downtown has a lot of love birds downtown Sundays with hardly any traffic and a lot of people getting off work. 
• I expect to make ten dollars every twenty to thirty minutes or twenty dollars.

If your lucky soldiers field has events and when they let out its easy picking. Since it's technically the south side all streets run north and south so easy pickings easy ten dollars or more every ten minutes.


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## HisShadowX

A


UberClown said:


> With having such a gas guzzler, I can pretty much only work the busiest times, otherwise I spend so much on gas it's not worth it. I'm hoping I can change that by using the parking method more.
> 
> I tried the 4pm weekday rush with little luck, but again, I'm pretty sure I was doing it wrong. I had the most fares around Lake Street in the loop.
> 
> Last night I was all over the place. I'm thinking of staying around the North Ave/Milwaukee Ave area (Bucktown/Wicker Park?) because it seems pretty busy and it's right around where all 3 surge areas meet. This way if it's slow where I'm at and a surge comes up, I can relocate quickly. Tonight's plan is basically try to stay in that North/Milwaukee area and keep coming back to it after each drop off unless I get re-beeped.
> 
> I'm debating a couple other options too. I have been hearing Lakeview is a great place to go, as well as Old Town/Gold Coast. The latter two seem good because, again, they're on the border between two surge areas.
> 
> The biggest thing I'm going to focus on is parking. It's kind of nerve wracking for a new driver to just sit there and wait because you feel like you're not in control, but it seems driving around only gives you a false sense of control at the expense of gas. Kind of like taking the streets vs. expressway during traffic. You're not actually getting anywhere faster, but it sure feels like you are.


Also I am not a fan of rush hours I prefer easy traffic as opposed to getting stuck in traffic. Uber does not give good per the minute waiting time to make it worth my wile.


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## UberClown

Thanks so much for the tips!

I've noticed UberX tends to pay little to nothing for time, it's all about distance. I had a guy ask to take me from his hotel to a pizza place recommended to him. He wanted me to wait for him and take him back afterwards. I warned him it may cost a lot to have me wait, but he insisted. 26 minutes and 2.18 miles later I came away with a $11.73 fare. I make closer to $27 to take someone to O'Hare from downtown for about the same duration.

On that note, I've got a question about fares. I've got one from yesterday Duration 7:48, 1.67 miles $9.90 and another Duration 7:08, 1.77 miles $6.88 and a third Duration 12:19, 3.16 miles for $9.52.

I'm sure there's some math involved in there, but those are seemingly arbitrary numbers, no? I mean, the first is the highest pay (no surge as far as I can tell) but is almost the same time and distance as the second, and is lower than the third which is higher in both mileage and time. Is there a way to see if it's a Surge?

I'm going to try to come up with a somewhat comprehensive plan before I go out tonight. I'll be bringing my notebook/tablet with me to take notes on what seems to work and what doesn't. Trial and error will hopefully win the day for me.

Thanks again for all the advice!


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## HisShadowX

UberClown said:


> Thanks so much for the tips!
> 
> I've noticed UberX tends to pay little to nothing for time, it's all about distance. I had a guy ask to take me from his hotel to a pizza place recommended to him. He wanted me to wait for him and take him back afterwards. I warned him it may cost a lot to have me wait, but he insisted. 26 minutes and 2.18 miles later I came away with a $11.73 fare. I make closer to $27 to take someone to O'Hare from downtown for about the same duration.
> 
> On that note, I've got a question about fares. I've got one from yesterday Duration 7:48, 1.67 miles $9.90 and another Duration 7:08, 1.77 miles $6.88 and a third Duration 12:19, 3.16 miles for $9.52.
> 
> I'm sure there's some math involved in there, but those are seemingly arbitrary numbers, no? I mean, the first is the highest pay (no surge as far as I can tell) but is almost the same time and distance as the second, and is lower than the third which is higher in both mileage and time. Is there a way to see if it's a Surge?
> 
> I'm going to try to come up with a somewhat comprehensive plan before I go out tonight. I'll be bringing my notebook/tablet with me to take notes on what seems to work and what doesn't. Trial and error will hopefully win the day for me.
> 
> Thanks again for all the advice!


You are not required to wait nor are you required to take them to multiple locations.

Even if this was not established this was not the clients final destination you can end it right there. Keep in mind unless you are taking them to the far south side they will get another uber ride in moments.

As for the math with surge prices honestly I do not pay attention to it because I find chasing the surge to be a waste of money. Most surge locations are up north and very hard to navigate.

As a former Dispatcher for Yellow and Checker we would never take an order for the United Center for anything because there are so many people and so many cabs they can jump in and going a black literally takes ten minutes sometimes after events.

Keep in mind though if your uberX and just got started you'll be required by the city in August to pay a 10,000.00 or 20,000.00 yearly fee (depending on how hours you plan on working) and go to a city college to go to school to get your chauffeurs license in order to keep driving.

At this point with what your saying you'll be priced out but I recommend you check out WeDeliver which is similar to Uber except you take packages from point a to b.


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## LookyLou

HisShadowX said:


> You are not required to wait nor are you required to take them to multiple locations.
> 
> Even if this was not established this was not the clients final destination you can end it right there. Keep in mind unless you are taking them to the far south side they will get another uber ride in moments.
> 
> As for the math with surge prices honestly I do not pay attention to it because I find chasing the surge to be a waste of money. Most surge locations are up north and very hard to navigate.
> 
> As a former Dispatcher for Yellow and Checker we would never take an order for the United Center for anything because there are so many people and so many cabs they can jump in and going a black literally takes ten minutes sometimes after events.
> 
> Keep in mind though if your uberX and just got started you'll be required by the city in August to pay a 10,000.00 or 20,000.00 yearly fee (depending on how hours you plan on working) and go to a city college to go to school to get your chauffeurs license in order to keep driving.
> 
> At this point with what your saying you'll be priced out but I recommend you check out WeDeliver which is similar to Uber except you take packages from point a to b.


Is that really what the fee is going to be there? Will pretty much eliminate UberX no matter how many hours you are working.


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## HisShadowX

LookyLou said:


> Is that really what the fee is going to be there? Will pretty much eliminate UberX no matter how many hours you are working.


Not exactly, this law has done nothing that will protect the cab industry or the Levine family which owns Yellow, Checker and the majority of cab companies in Chicago.

As Uber's CEO has stated the future of the industry is manless vehicles. Google is investing heavily in Uber and Google has created and has a fleet of manless vehicles in California.

The industry will be turned upsided down on Uber's ultimate goal. They can get rid of uberX but the future will wipe the Levine family out and send him back to Israel broke.


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## London UberExec Driver

I head straight into the middle of London (I live about 10 miles SW of the centre), by the time I get there I will usually get a job. If not I go there, and have a look at the rider's app to see where the other cars are positioned. If there's too many near me, then I'll move to a quieter spot. Have a look again. Then move again if too many nearby. I generally get a job by then anyway, and the work is fairly constant around the usual parts of London. If a job takes me out of London (Heathrow Airport, for example), then I'll employ the same strategy, of heading into the midde, checking other cars nearby and moving around. If I can't get a job quickly enough after moving about and checking for a while, then it's time to go home (usually about 2am to 3am).


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## Sydney Uber

London UberExec Driver said:


> I head straight into the middle of London (I live about 10 miles SW of the centre), by the time I get there I will usually get a job. If not I go there, and have a look at the rider's app to see where the other cars are positioned. If there's too many near me, then I'll move to a quieter spot. Have a look again. Then move again if too many nearby. I generally get a job by then anyway, and the work is fairly constant around the usual parts of London. If a job takes me out of London (Heathrow Airport, for example), then I'll employ the same strategy, of heading into the midde, checking other cars nearby and moving around. If I can't get a job quickly enough after moving about and checking for a while, then it's time to go home (usually about 2am to 3am).


Thats pretty much the strategy I try and employ. Making use of the downtime to do paperwork, surf the net, blog etc.

I just missed out this weekend's 20 job $250 incentive. Made a couple of errors early on that cost me. Middle of winter & school holidays doesn't help.

Drop & Stop is the best when you have a 6 litre V8 (366 cubic inch) motor to pilot around.


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## Roberto

I run errands, do laundry, go grocery shopping, etc between rides. Yesterday I went to several liquor stores looking for beers I've been wanting to try (Dogfish Head's Ta Henket, T'ej and Sah'tea as well as a pineapple cider) to no avail.


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## vudu145

TheSheibs said:


> I have one spot that always has parking so as soon as I drop off someone I start heading to that spot. On a good day I only get a couple blocks before I get a request. On slow days I make it all the way to that spot and wait it out. Longest I have waited is about 20-30 minutes but that was a very slow day. The spot I go to also usually gets ignored.


I wish that was a slow day for me I can go a 7 hour shift without a single hit.


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## Oc_DriverX

vudu145 said:


> I wish that was a slow day for me I can go a 7 hour shift without a single hit.


What area are you in? Consider updating your profile with your location.


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## vudu145

Oc_DriverX said:


> What area are you in? Consider updating your profile with your location.


Im in Philly


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## Elmoooy

I have a spot in downtown Charleston where I can chill, if there is downtime and I bring my iPad and use free wifi and legally able to park there as we all Charleston people know its very difficult to find parking in downtown.


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