Uber Autonomous Flying Cars: The Future is Here

Recently I've been posting about my belief that the days of the Uber driver are numbered because autonomous, self-driving cars are just around the corner. The technology advances have been so rapid that most of the potential problems are already solved and governments will be driven to early adoption in order to reduce the road toll and congestion.

I've had a lot of feedback in support but also some disagreement, from people who just can't see it happening that quickly, if at all.

That's OK. It's human nature to believe that the future will be just like the present.

We received this email from a new driver recently and thought others might benefit from the questions and answers.

G’day Phil and Sam,

Thanks for all the helpful hints.

Being a relatively new Uber boy on the block, around 6 weeks on the Sunshine Coast – south end – I have some questions that I am hoping you can answer for me:

• The Sticky Uber signs are not very sticky and keep falling down. Any suggestions?
• How does the “call centre” work. When you get a ping, are other Uber drivers getting the same ping or is it just you?
• I dropped a rider off at Mooloolaba last weekend. A guy was just standing there and sat down and said could I take him to Sippy Downs. I said yes but you will need to book the ride. He booked the ride and it was accepted by another nearby Uber Driver so he cancelled. It then came up on my phone and I accepted it. How does that happen?
• The Uber GPS system could be improved.
• I was in Mooloolaba this morning and for 30 minutes I kept seeing the message: “You are in a busy area, expect trips soon!” I got nothing! WTF?
• How do I register to pick up riders at Sunshine Coast Airport and Brisbane Airport after doing drop off’s?

Guys, I hope you can help.

Many thanks and much appreciated.

Hi,

Answering in order.

1. I just leave mine on all the time and don’t have any problem. Just contact Uber and ask them to send you new ones.
2. By Call Centre, do you mean Uber help? If so, call 1300 091 272, work through the menu and you’ll get onto someone to ask. They’re not on deck until 10:00am though.
3. Presumably because the GPS doesn’t measure time and distance all that accurately. Exactly the same thing happened to me (just once) in the Maroochydore Plaza shopping centre car park. The rider was sitting in the passenger seat at the time!
4. The Uber nav drives me mad. Often, it works perfectly, but other times it just freezes up or reverts to directions from an earlier ride. You can sometimes fix it by exiting the driver app, turning your phone off and on again and then reloading the driver app.
5. This is a recent feature and probably still buggy. Maybe it’s only looking at the number of riders, rather than the balance of riders and drivers. It can be useful to have a look at the rider app. If you see yourself centred on screen and surrounded by other drivers, it might be worthwhile moving so that you’re outside them and at least covering one quadrant.
6. For Sunshine Coast airport, no registration is required. If the Uber driver app is on, you are automatically placed in the queue. Drop off and pickup just like a taxi or a private vehicle. If you want to park and wait for an incoming flight, you can do so by turning left at the big roundabout as you come into the airport. Street parking is free and there’s a great little coffee shop in Cessna Avenue.
   
   For Brisbane airport, you have to register your e-tag and there are designated pickup and wait zones. You can get all the information at https://pages.et.uber.com/ANZAirportStep1.

Regards

Phil

Phil,

Many thanks.

In respect to Point 2, I should have been a little clearer. When you get a job or a ping, are you the only one the signal goes to? Or does it go to 2 or 3 drivers and the first one to responds gets the job?

Also, in terms of getting a return trip to Noosa from the Sunshine Coast Airport, do you simply wait for the next arrival to see if you get a job – and what are the percentages of getting a job?

Many thanks,

Hi,

You’re the only one getting the ping. If you decline it (or fail to accept it) then it goes to the next closest driver.

I check the airport website for arrivals and factor in the 20-30 minutes between a plane arriving and the passengers collecting their luggage. I really dislike waiting, so I’ll only do so if the plane has already landed. That said, your chances of getting a job are fairly high. From my experience, around 80%. Of course, you don’t know whether they’re heading North or South until you start the ride, so it won’t necessarily be in the direction of home!

And unfortunately you can't use the option to get trips towards a destination (such as home) while you're in the airport queue.

Cheers

Phil

We've published plenty of feedback here from drivers who've suffered from unsatisfactory Uber driver support.

So it's good to be able to report a positive experience.

My own, in this case.

This morning, I picked up one of my favourite fares, from Noosa to the Sunshine Coast airport.

It takes about half an hour. The first half on the very scenic coast road and the second half on a 100 km/hr motorway.

It normally pays around $42. Not bad for an easy half hour drive and I usually pick up a couple of extra rides on the way back.

Except that this time the fare came up as $24.32! In other words, a reduction of 43%. Not acceptable, Uber.