Do I have to buy a fastrak?

I drove with lyft but someone hit my car so I’m now an Uber driver. I rented a vehicle with Uber and unlike lyft’s rental, this vehicle didn’t come with a fastrak thing by default. I don’t know how tolls work with Uber: do I pay out of pocket then email them my reciept to be reimbursed, or is there some way to register this car to be charged but for Uber to be charged instead so they take it out of my earnings? How do tolls work? Please, any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

What's a fastrak? Is that like EZPass?

 

Yes. It’s for tolls

 

I know they're strongly recommended. Uber keeps track (although not 100% accurately) of tolls you go through with pax in the car. You'll have to fight with them about tolls to get to the pickup. They'll charge the pax, and you'll get it when you get your pay. Check your ride details.

You're also going to want to keep track of the tolls for yourself and your taxes. It's much easier to do if you're just have an account like E-Z Pass, or I guess Fast Track.

 

Definitely get a fast track
Otherwise you're going to sit in traffic for the cash lane - that makes no sense @ 10¢ or Lord knows what it is, per minute. Also Pax will catch attitude about it. Fast track lanes are so much faster and also yes - its a good record of your toll charges.

 

Definitely get a fastrack - you can use it with any vehicle you drive and take it with you. With Uber (or Lyft) you are reimbursed for tolls, and you are reimbursed the full retail for the tolls - note though that sometimes you have to write support to get the reimbursement, so be mindful.

With a Fastrak account, you will actually pay the tolls at "wholesale", a slight discount from what you are reimbursed.

https://www.metroexpresslanes.net/en/home/index.shtml

 

Do you have to ask the pax if they WANT to take the toll road/toll lanes ? What if you take the toll road but then they decide they dont want to pay for it??

 

If you want to ask, ask.

What GPS are you using? Uber, Maps, or Waze?

 

I use Google Maps..
Why?

 

You don't have to ask. IMO its professional to tell them if there will be a toll.

BUT ALSO: you should see that some times of the day it will be beneficial for you to AVOID toll roads.

A case in point is the 73. If you take the 5 instead it is a few miles longer, but after rush hour close to the same time. There is no toll, so the passenger pays the same or less, instead of the $7.76 toll. But YOU make MORE because it is more MILES.

Some times of the day, heavy traffic would make that a loser for you, then take the toll road instead.

 

Waze has a feature where with one or two taps you can see three different routes after you put in the destination. Well, you don't see the routes, but you see a summary of them. You can figure out, based on mileage, if there's a toll, and approximate time of travel, which one you want. In my area of New Jersey, vast majority of the time the fastest route was also the one with the most miles, which meant I would get the packs out of my car sooner so I could get to the next ride, and I would get more money at the same time.

The benefit of doing this after you have started the trip, but before you pull away to start driving, is that the passenger sees you looking for the best route to take. The best route for you is always the one that gives you the most miles and is either faster than, or tax on the least amount of time to the ride. Generally speaking, passengers are more concerned with getting to their destination quickly than they are with savings a couple of pennies. And that's how you presented to them if the difference in mileage is a bit more drastic. You can also try pointing out to them that getting onto the parkway will incur a toll, but will save them 15 minutes travel time, and completely leave out any information for them about the miles. It all depends on where and when you're driving.

You can also try popping again about halfway through the trip. Quite often I would find that at that point there would be a route available where I could save my passenger some more times and Tack on another mile or two to the trip.

My preferred use of GPS was to keep Uber app using Uber, because if you are going to take a pool ride, Uber will generally take the most roundabout routes possible so that you are most likely to pick up another passenger. I just turned off the sound on it and used Waze for all other rides.

Each of the systems have their own pluses and minuses. Play with all of them and figure out which one or combination is going to help you make the most money. It's about so much more than just getting a map to tell you how to get to where you need to be.

 

In fact with upfront pricing the fare will not change when you take a longer but faster route - in fact it appears that the upfront price is based on that route, but the Uber navigation asks you to take the longer time shorter distance route.

 

On uber there is no need to tell them or ask them about tolls,

with the flat rate the toll is included.

However... you will probably have to fight to get paid for tolls.

 

You said it Gurl! Perfect explanation of how to improve both pax rides (helping them arrive to their destination quickly) and maximizing driver earnings by taking advantage of the various Nav systems and what they each offer.

 

They've gotten much better, I have only asked for tolls once in the last year. It was in or near Orlando. I put in for it both ways, original trip and the return trip and they paid me.