[onlyrealcuzzo]

No one needs real-time (above 1 minute) driver locations.

Riders never see the driver's location before booking.

Uber doesn't need the exact location to get a decent match.

And anyway - they send the ride to several drivers and the lowest / first bidder wins.

[edmundsauto]

What is the set of information that makes you say this? Because I would put money that Uber's data team has run an experiment with lower realtime status updates (realtime is expensive, these companies aren't filled with idiots, they test things). And based on that, I think it's reasonable to assume that critical metrics are negatively impacted by not having realtime updates.

So I'm curious if you have any knowledge, or if what you are saying is "I don't need realtime", or perhaps more charitably, "I can't imagine realtime being valuable to users". I push back on the 2nd, and I strong push back on the idea that someone with can reach the conclusion that Uber is wasting money on things that don't drive user value.

Unless, of course, you work/worked there and worked on these projects, and saw firsthand that Uber decided to waste a bunch of money internally.

[DeathArrow]

Taxi apps in my country have real time updates. I can see the taxi on the map and every turn in makes to get to me. The driver can also see if I move.

And it's clear they didn't employ anything like Uber massive work force to do that.

[lumost]

In a major metro like Boston 1 minute further down the road could mean a 5 minute longer wait. I think your point stands however with 6x traffic increase to once every 10 seconds.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

You only need to update the location if the driver is moving. IIUC, most drivers are stagnant while they wait for rides.

They're in the business of saving gas. Not cruising around idly while they wait for a ride.

Sure - some drivers are finishing a trip nearby. But you know the route they are taking...

[noirbot]

I'm not sure that's true. Almost every rideshare I've gotten in the last few years outside of an airport pickup has been in motion when they got assigned to me, and usually already on another ride. Even many of my airport rides were being picked up by someone who was dropping off someone else at the airport right before.

You also don't know for-sure what route they're taking. Almost every driver I've had was using Waze or some other mapping app that usually took a different reasonable route than whatever Lyft was showing when I booked it.