Sometimes, traffic congestion is truly a nightmare when you’re driving for Uber and the reasons for this are fairly obvious. If you run into too much traffic congestion, your ride time will increase and you won’t get paid nearly as much for your time. This cuts into your valuable profits, which makes Uber a lot less financially viable. Obviously, this isn’t good for anyone. It’s always better to get to your destination sooner rather than later. But that being said, driving in an unsafe manner isn’t the answer either.
So how can you avoid all that traffic congestion and get the most out of your Uber trips without sacrificing your safety?
This is a great question and in this blog post, we’re going to share our five favorite tips for doing exactly that. Let’s dive into it.
Be Mindful Of When You Drive
There are some periods of time throughout the day when traffic is just going to be more congested than others. For example, rush hour in the morning and in the afternoon or evening is going to qualify for this. Driving during the weekends, especially around holidays, is also going to qualify. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to avoid these times altogether. But it does mean that you should do a cost-benefit analysis of driving during these congested times. You might want to consider finding a different side gig for the congested traffic times—and drive Uber when traffic is a bit more relaxed.
Choose Locations Carefully
Whenever you get the opportunity to give a ride on Uber, you’ll be able to see where the person wants to go. Naturally, this will make you at least vaguely aware of what the potential route would be, which can tell you a lot about what kind of traffic congestion you might expect. It might be in your best interest to audit locations, to check for incidences of thick traffic congestion. You may want to consider avoiding rides that will take you through places that you know will have incredibly congested traffic.
Review Every Ride
The truth of the matter is that when it comes to Uber, you’re not required to take every ride that comes across the app. You can absolutely pick and choose based on any criteria you want. And this bears asking:
Why not review every single ride for a quick knowledge check about whether or not that ride will actually be profitable based on the route you’ll need to drive, and the known congestion that may exist at that time?
Doing a quick cost-benefit analysis of every ride could yield a lot of information that will just help you to save a lot of time thus, helping you to avoid losing money on trips that are going to take you through congested areas.
Plan Your Route Strategically
Sometimes, you need to drive during times of the day or through parts of the city where congestion is more likely to occur. But sometimes, you can take alternative routes to save time. If you get really good at driving in particular areas, you may learn these routes like the back of your hand and be able to shave some time off of the trip while still driving safely. And that leads us to our final point…
Stay Safe
Do not succumb to the temptation to drive in an unsafe manner while driving for Uber. Obviously, this is one of the risks that can pop up for drivers who are desperate to make some extra money. When faced with the prospect of making far less money than you should on a ride, you may be tempted to hit the gas, weave around in traffic, or take a route that is just overall less safe. But it’s really important to understand that this is not the correct approach. Driving safely while Ubering is crucial for several reasons.
- Firstly, it helps to protect the lives of the driver, passengers, and other road users.
- Secondly, it can prevent accidents and minimize the risk of injury or property damage, which could result in legal and financial consequences.
- Finally, safe driving can help to maintain a good reputation and increase the likelihood of positive reviews, leading to more business and higher earnings.
Note: For a list of hacks to help you maximize your earnings while driving for Uber, check out this article.
Conclusion
There you have it. These top five tips will help you to avoid traffic congestion, and help you to make the most money possible out of each and every Uber trip. Plus, following these tips, you should be able to arrive safely and get great ratings for passengers at the same time. You’ve got this. Now get out there and earn that awesome gig money.
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