Uber’s New Plan to Cut Airport Wait Times
Jackie Reddy May 18, 2019
Uber is trialing a new PIN-based system to decrease the wait time of riders at PDX, Tech Crunch reports. This enhancement to the app was unveiled on Monday, exactly the same day that rival Lyft debuted a similar feature. Uber sees this trial as the potential beginnings to a “strategic partnership.”
In an effort to cut the wait times of riders at Portland International Airport (PDX), Uber is trialing a new PIN feature, something that it believes could ease congestion during peak travel hours at the facility, Tech Crunch reports. This feature, which debuted on Monday, was unveiled by Uber just as competitor Lyft also rolled-out a similar enhancement to its service.
After ordering their UberX, passengers – who must head to the pick-up area at PDX – are given a brief explanation of this PIN feature. From there, the outlet states that, “A six-digit personal identification number is then assigned to the rider, who is instructed to provide it to the first available driver.”
“Meanwhile, the driver, who has received a pickup opportunity at the airport, heads to the pickup location and will get in a queue, waiting for the next available rider,” it adds.
The rider gives the PIN to their driver and this number is then keyed into the app and the journey continues as normal.
Though only in the trial phase, Uber hopes that this could lead to its increased growth in and around airports on a global scale.
Offering her comments to the outlet, product manager Sondra Batbold said, “If we zoom out and think about how much unprecedented growth airports are experiencing all over the world, it’s an important strategic partnership for us to work really closely with airports.”
[Image Source: Shutterstock]
@ksandness Hong Kong, London (Paddington Express)and Malpensa Express have a rail to airport that is functional. Hong Kong to the airport is great - check in your liggage at the rail station then take the train later. The luggage gets checked to your final destination and the train is direct to the airport. I'm not going to schlep luggage across streets to find a taxi or UBER and get to where I want to go. Most cities' light rail to the airport are OK if have no luggage and a single small carry-on. Not your typical traveler.
Hahaha, thar’s really stupid. Back to the old days with endless taxi queues and rude, underpaid “Taxi dispatchers”.
How will you know the driver is legit?
In other words the solution is to line the Uber drivers up like a taxi dispatch line.
"get in a queue, waiting for the next available rider,” - LOL isn't that called "a cab" ?