How many rides can an Uber or Lyft driver do in a day? At a typical rate of 3 rides per hour in a busy market, most drivers will do 25–30 rides on their longest day.
But a reader in San Luis Obispo, California did 65 rides in one 12-hour day, earning $813! That is the most verified rides in a day that we’ve ever seen.
65 rides in one day is the most we’ve ever seen!
65 rides in 12 hours is an average of over 5 rides per hour. That’s an incredibly fast rate! It means that most of the rides were short, and new ride requests never stopped coming in.
This driver earned over $67 per hour on average for nearly 12 hours. That’s an incredibly high sustained rate when most drivers can expect $15–$25 per hour on average.
What a 61-ride day is like for an Uber driver
In a Reddit thread, a driver who did 61 rides said their day started at 1 PM and ended at 3 AM—around 12 hours total. They took one 45-minute break.
There was a football game that day, and the driver used info from upfront pricing and their own local knowledge to mainly target short rides that kept them inside of a busy area.
Because of upfront pricing, this driver says they can exclude rides they don’t want to do, like hospitals & grocery stops.
Another driver commented, “I don’t know how that is physically possible!” The 61-ride driver responded, “It’s very possible if you know your city.”
And what motivated this driver to go all-out for a record-breaking day? “I had to pay rent in 3 days!”
The most rides in a day on Uber and Lyft: More high numbers!
The driver below did 61 trips in one 12-hour day! Before we found a driver who did 65 trips, 61 was the highest we had ever seen.
61 trips in one day on Uber! The most we’ve seen
The Uber driver below did 45 rides in 14 hours online, earning $333. that’s only around $7 per ride, but the driver was trying to earn a $160 Quest bonus.
45 trips over 14 online hours. Long day!
Below, this driver’s busiest day clocked in at 47 trips in 12 hours, with final earnings of $339. They drove near Disneyland and mostly did quick, short trips to and from the park.
47 trips, but only $339. Lots of rides do not always mean huge earnings
The driver below is a more typical example of the most rides in a day: 34 rides and deliveries in 12 hours. They earned $565 thanks to a big Quest bonus.
34 rides in a day is closer to what most drivers will experience
How many rides can you expect to do in a day?
You can expect to do an average of around 3 rides per hour in a market with strong rider demand. For cities that are more spread out, long rides will bring your average down closer to 2 rides per hour.
Multiply 2-3 rides per hour by the number of hours you plan to drive to get a general sense for how many rides you can expect to do in a day.
Doing more than 3 rides per hour typically occurs during the busiest times in areas with strong demand for short rides, like bar areas, college campuses, or sports stadiums near a downtown area.
The highest number of trips per hour is around 8
One driver on Reddit claimed to be able to do 6–8 trips per hour during bar crawl times. 8 rides per hour is only 7.5 minutes per ride. That means each ride is very short and there is almost no downtime between rides.
The app will force you to take a break after 12 hours of driving time
Depending on local regulations, your area will likely have maximum driving time. For example, Uber will force you to take a 6-hour break after 12 hours of driving time.
Driving time is counted as time spent online and driving. That means you can be online for longer than 12 hours without being forced to go offline if some of that time was sitting and waiting without a passenger.
Short rides can help you earn Quests
Many drivers who did 40, 50, 0r 60 rides in a day were targeting a Quest bonus, a bonus for completing a certain number of rides.
The best strategy to quickly complete a Quest bonus is to target short rides. And when you target short rides, the number of trips you do in a day will increase.
With upfront pricing, you can skip long rides and only accept shorter rides that will help you quickly complete Quests.
Without Quests, doing lots of short rides might not be as profitable as waiting for rides with higher earnings per mile or hour.
Your overall pay is more important than the number of rides you do
It’s fun for drivers to swap stories about their most impressive numbers, but it’s important to remember that your earnings goals are more important than the number of rides you can do in a day.
Sometimes, it’s more profitable to do fewer rides if they pay more per mile and more per hour. Set an earnings goal and stick to it. For many drivers, the target is $1.50/mile or more and $30 per hour or more.
But other times, your goal might be a flat dollar amount, just like the driver who did 61 rides in a day because he needed to make rent.
In that case, you might need to drive until you hit your earnings goal, even if the earnings per hour and mile don’t exactly match your typical standards.
More reading for drivers
Brent Michael Houtchens says
I saw the person that did 61 rides.
I did 65 rides one Saturday night earlier in the year. I would be happy to provide proof via picture from phone. 65 rides in 11 hours and 44 minutes!