It seems Uber is tired of your lateness!
So it is currently trialling two new features – Paying drivers for waiting and Shorter cancellation periods.
According the taxi-hailing company, “Uber works better when drivers are driving more and waiting less”. So these two new features would make the Uber experience more productive (and less stressful!) for drivers and their passengers.
Paying drivers for waiting past 2 minutes.
When a driver arrives promptly, the company thinks it’s only fair that they’re compensated for their time. So it is testing something new: paying drivers for wait times that exceed 2 minutes.
“While we encourage riders to only request a ride when they’re ready, we understand that sometimes they are running a little behind. In these cases drivers will be compensated for the extra minutes they need.”
Shorter cancellation periods to help drivers
Uber is reducing the cancellation period from five minutes to two minutes. Riders who cancel after the two minute grace period may incur a small fee depending on the city. Uber feels that two minutes is usually sufficient time for riders to determine whether they need a car.
Uber is experimenting with wait times and cancellations in Dallas, New Jersey, New York, and Phoenix. If they improve the experience for riders and drivers, they’ll look at rolling them out more broadly.
“Our goal is to help riders and drivers connect quickly and easily so they can get on their way and we hope pilots like these give us the flexibility to test new ideas and improve the reliability of our platform.”
