After the drop-off – Should I stay? Or should I go? I suggest heading towards a PRIME AREA.
While I recognize that there is no wrong or right way to ride-share, I do believe there are ways to get more bang for your buck. Once you hit that ONLINE button, a ride request could arrive immediately, or you might be forced to wait a while. It largely depends on your location, the time of day or both.
Nevertheless, I thought I’d share what I’ve found to work best for me. My methodology is based on a simple principle – go where the fish are! So, whenever I drop a passenger off, I locate the nearest Prime Area and start driving towards it. What do I mean by Prime Area? I define it as an area with a large volume of potential riders. Over time, I have assembled a list of Prime Areas that I target as I drive around the Bay Area.
While navigating with the Uber app, I keep Google Maps running in the background and switch to it after dropping off a passenger. I then simply start typing the first few letters of the nearest Prime area and, assuming I have cell coverage, Google Maps will usually find it immediately. If the Prime area is less than 10 minutes away, I start navigating to it immediately. This allows me to drive decisively out of a tightly wound residential area and towards the nearest Prime Area with the most potential riders.
Here is my list of PRIME AREA Targets:
Drop off |
PRIME AREA Target(s) |
| Alum Rock Park | Eastridge Mall |
| Berkeley | Downtown Berkeley, Comal (a passenger told me this is one of the best Mexican restaurants in Berkeley – bring a date!) |
| Burlingame | Caribbean Gardens (very close to SFO – set a destination ride to South Bay from here and you might get lucky with an airport ride home!) |
| Campbell | El Guapo’s, Downtown Campbell |
| Downtown Oakland | Blind Tiger, Late night hotspots – Parliament, Radio |
| East San Jose | Eastridge Mall |
| Los Gatos | Los Gatos Bar & Grill |
| Milpitas | The Great Mall, San Jose Airport |
| Mountain View | Castro Street |
| Palo Alto | Sushirrito, Wahlburgers, Stanford Mall, Stanford University |
| Redwood City | Downtown Redwood City |
| San Francisco | Monarch (I often set this as my destination when targeting the city from south bay), AT&T Park, LATE NIGHT – DNA Lounge, Temple Night Club, Harlot (Sunday late night), Condor Club, Castro Theater, Roxie Theater, Bissap Baobab |
| San Jose Downtown | San Pedro Market Square, San Jose Airport, Late night – M Asian Fusion, Café Stritch |
| San Mateo | Ajisen Ramen (one of my favorite ramen places!), Downtown San Mateo |
| Saratoga | Big Basin Café |
| Willow Glen | Aqui Willow Glen |
I believe this strategy will make it easier for the Uber or Lyft system to find you a ride. While I fully recognize that you can choose to park immediately after dropping off a passenger and wait for a request. However, I think this strategy simply brings you closer to the largest number of passengers. I especially enjoy when a request arrives from the location I set as my target. It’s as if I predicted where my next passenger would come from.
So, what do you do when you arrive at the Prime Area Target? Just find a convenient spot, park, turn off your engine and wait. Your ride request should arrive in no time!
What’s your strategy? I’d love to hear your opinion and get feedback on my suggestion. Let me know what you think! Please share your own suggested Prime Area Targets in the comments below.
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