[FusaichiPegasusK]

Apologies if this has been posted before--I'm curious about the average demographic of pax in different cities. I've been lurking on this forum for a while & it sounds like driving in my smallish college town (Athens, GA) is vastly different than in a lot of other cities. I've been driving for about two months now (~150 rides total so far) & I can count on one hand the number of pax I've had who were not college students...I've had MAYBE 8 riders that were over the age of 25. Almost every ride I get is minimum fare. Football is huge here, so home game days have been very busy with 2-3x surges pretty much all day long, but on an average day, it's extremely rare for me to get a trip that's over $8 before Uber takes its cut. The vast, vast majority of my riders are frat or sorority students, white, using their parents' credit cards, & riding from their apartments to the bars downtown.

I was really shocked when I started reading posts here & saw how many drivers there were that avoid college students, because if I didn't pick up college kids, I'd have already been deactivated due to lack of activity, there's pretty much no one here using Uber off campus. I also see a lot of people complaining about short trips--almost all of mine are 2-3 miles or less!

I'm making money even with the short rides--I live in a fairly centralized location, so on an average weeknight, I might do two rides in 30 minutes & only drive 7 miles total with $8 take home pay. I wait at my house for my phone to beep, then I leave to go pick someone up, so it's not like I'm having to go drive somewhere to get pings. Game days are a lot more profitable, I have been averaging $35-50/hour only driving before the games. I could make a lot more driving overnight, especially after games, but I'm not willing to deal with vomiting & drunks, so I'm happy with the way I'm doing things now.

Would love to read about others' average riders/rides!

 

[denverxdriver]

During the day in Denver lots of suits and airport runs. Some commuter traffic going to work/school. At night it's to the restaurants/bars I try to avoid the millennial areas and pick up in areas that have demographics in the 30+ range as ratings and trips are better. Weekend nights are drunk *****es and weekend days are hungover people or tourists. Lots of different people at different times. I avoid the college seen as much as possible,but you never know what your going to get. Downtown fares (bar hopping) are the minimum fares with heavy traffic. I like the outskirts with the open roads and less risky traffic/passengers. Denver is a heavy uber market with about 25% of my rides being Lyft. Lyft is heavy at nights. I wouldn't log on if I was only going to make $8 a night.

 

[pizza guy]

:Being able to wait at home is important when its slow. If I didn't live in spot that got me pings from home on a regular basis Uber would not be worth my time. I have 2 small colleges within ping distance and they tend to order Uber when its slow so the short rides aren't bad. I also have a VERY large community college nearby that is a great source of pax with rides ranging from $5-$15 going both ways. The community college kids are great and often tip. The other 2 colleges aren't bad, but you may take a small ratings hit. The 2 colleges are not party schools so not a lot of drunks. The don't make up a huge portion of my pax but definately do make it a more profitable area to work.

 

[FusaichiPegasusK]

:Being able to wait at home is important when its slow. If I didn't live in spot that got me pings from home on a regular basis Uber would not be worth my time.

I'd probably only drive on game days if I wasn't able to get pings from home, because for only $8/night, it's not worth it for me to go sit around waiting somewhere downtown for pings+put more miles on my car. I don't have a ton of free time after working 8 hours on the weekdays & dealing with my animals when I get home, so Uber's really been a blessing for me in that I'm able to commit very short amounts of time for a little extra money during the week. Just driving for thirty minutes a day or so will usually get me $40-50 Monday-Friday & while that's not a ton of extra money, it is enough for me to make my car payment & put a little in savings at the end of the month, so I'm not complaining at all. Game days are just a bonus, but I have to say I'm gonna be pretty bummed when football season's over...I'll miss these $250 Saturdays!

My ratings have been falling a little driving more on game days, I suspect because people hate paying $30 fares for 3 mile rides, so I've been trying to drive more during the week in hopes of getting my rating up when traffic is light & prices are low. I had one girl last night ***** about how I didn't have any water, & I've occasionally had people put the pin in the wrong spot, but overall, I've had a pretty good experience as far as not having any rude or overly-entitled students. Some of their conversations do make me roll my eyes a little ("My parents cut me off financially, it really sucks! I don't get to use their credit cards any more, they're just depositing $200 a month into my bank account & paying my rent"), but I graduated here & I've lived here five years working retail much of the time, so I'm accustomed to it. I've never gotten a tip from a college student, but several of my middle-aged riders have tipped ($20 in two cases!)

Some of the really short rides are kinda weird to me. I'd say probably half my rides are distances I would've walked if I had been without a car. I can't imagine paying $6 to ride half a mile to one mile, it just wouldn't be worth it to me unless I'm in a really sketchy area or the weather is awful.

 

[Nick781]

Attractive college students

 

[denverxdriver]

And douchbag college boyfriends who try to make themselves look better by hating on you

 

[Coachman]

I've got three main types... the young 30ish professionals staying at a hotel while traveling, the 40ish homeowners who's car is in the shop or heading to the airport, and the carless teens or early 20's who need a ride to work at the pizza parlor or home from school.

 

[UberNorthStar]

Hi, FusaichiPegasusK and Coachman.

Welcome to the forum!

Please read your Partnership Agreement.

New Drivers have 30 Days to Opt-out of Binding Arbitration.

 

[Nick781]

And douchbag college boyfriends who try to make themselves look better by hating on you

I've never had that happen at Boston College or BU and even if they do who cares. If they really try to screw with me I'd kick them out.

 

[Tenzo]

Chicago. About 80% women between 25 and 40.

Most have heels so they cant walk and aren't comfortable riding mass transit off hours.