Last week, I had a few free evenings, so I decided to drive on Wednesday and Thursday after work. It helped that Uber was offering $10 of smove credits (to cover car rental and fuel) for every 4 hours of driving, and that they were also offering a one-time bonus of $40 for 8 hours of driving. Lastly, there was a promotion for smove + Uber drivers to have minimum guaranteed fares of $10/trip! These benefits are bundled under the so-called Uber Flex Club. You can check out their website for more information.
Anyway, my workplace is in Yishun, so I picked up the car at 369 Sembawang Road. It is quite a good starting point, with 1.4x boost and several SAF camps around, so that helps provide some supply of bookings.
The first thing I noticed with the new incentives system is the lack of stress to make every second count. Since incentives were not paid by the minute, it was not so critical to stay online as long as possible. There was also no pressure to hit the minimum trips per hour (TPH) or risk losing incentives for 4 hours of driving. As such I could focus more on driving smoothly for passenger comfort and less on desperately trying to achieve the TPH requirement.
I also noticed that it is a fairer system, since drivers are not penalized for long trips, and rewards scale according to the distance and time driven.
Lastly, surge now makes more sense, since it directly contributes to your earnings.
That being said, it is still important to try to get as many trips as possible, since your earnings are directly related to the passengers you've ferried. I have found that Novena and Bukit Timah area is pretty good with a strong demand for Uber. Particularly good for smove drivers, because these bookings are often short, allowing you to benefit from the minimum $10 fare and pick up more passengers at the same time! (Provided you don't get caught in heavy traffic, of course) Nonetheless, if you're lucky, any area can be a good area for picking up passengers!
Keen to give it a shot? Check out my introduction for more information on how to sign up!
Anyway, my workplace is in Yishun, so I picked up the car at 369 Sembawang Road. It is quite a good starting point, with 1.4x boost and several SAF camps around, so that helps provide some supply of bookings.
The first thing I noticed with the new incentives system is the lack of stress to make every second count. Since incentives were not paid by the minute, it was not so critical to stay online as long as possible. There was also no pressure to hit the minimum trips per hour (TPH) or risk losing incentives for 4 hours of driving. As such I could focus more on driving smoothly for passenger comfort and less on desperately trying to achieve the TPH requirement.
I also noticed that it is a fairer system, since drivers are not penalized for long trips, and rewards scale according to the distance and time driven.
Lastly, surge now makes more sense, since it directly contributes to your earnings.
That being said, it is still important to try to get as many trips as possible, since your earnings are directly related to the passengers you've ferried. I have found that Novena and Bukit Timah area is pretty good with a strong demand for Uber. Particularly good for smove drivers, because these bookings are often short, allowing you to benefit from the minimum $10 fare and pick up more passengers at the same time! (Provided you don't get caught in heavy traffic, of course) Nonetheless, if you're lucky, any area can be a good area for picking up passengers!
Keen to give it a shot? Check out my introduction for more information on how to sign up!
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