Uber No Cars Available: What Is This Issue + 5 Fixes Company Info
Uber rideshare is still working despite the pandemic. However, some Uber users are encountering a “Uber No Cars Available” message when trying to request a ride.
What if Uber can't find a driver?
Not getting any rides on Uber can be really stressful, especially if you have a business appointment or you have to go to the airport that you cannot miss or be late to.
Why does Uber say no cars available? Why is it so hard to get an Uber now? In this guide we will tell you everything you have to know about this Uber error message.You will find out what does "driver unavailable" mean and luckily, you will be able to fix this issue using multiple methods I will describe below.
We investigated this particular issue by using our own experience and looking at various user reports who have experienced these issues.
Keep in mind that we are not an Uber affiliate and we do not partner with Uber in any way, so we are free to express our opinions. From what we gathered, there are several common reasons that are known to trigger this particular issue, which will be discussed throughout this article.
Did you get the message “No Uber Available”? The app operates all around the year for short and long distances, however, when you get this kind of message, chances are that Uber is unavailable in your area at the time you are requesting one.
Basically, it means that there are no drivers in your location on the Uber driver app available to pick you up and bring you to your destination.
There are other reasons, too, as to why this problem occurs. However, we believe that these are less probable reasons. Recently we experienced a big Facebook outage.
It's possible that sometimes there are app issues and Uber is down.
In case of an Uber app bug, you will not be able to use the Uber app at all. However, in most cases, this is resolved quickly and you can use the app again.
One limitation to not finding a ride can also be a driver shortage, which means less drivers in your area available to drive you. Here are some of the reasons why drivers haven't gotten back on the road:
The rideshare industry was one of the most impacted by the pandemic.
In May 2021, the Boston Magazine was one of the first reporting the Uber driver shortage.
The Boston Uber shortage made it almost impossible for Boston residents to take an Uber or Lyft at night.
The delay and the lack of Uber drivers represent a safety issue, especially late at night in a city where public transportation shuts down embarrassingly early.
The Uber and Lyft driver shortage is mainly due to the fear of the Covid Pandemic. Many prefer to avoid having passengers and encounter other people as a fear of coming in contact with the virus.
The past year, many gig workers switched from rideshare to food delivery jobs. This is because food delivery jobs do not require the passengers in the car, but they rather bring the needs to the passengers with contactless delivery .
Despite the increasing vaccination rate and the higher demand for rides, Uber's ride-hailing business returning to pre-pandemic levels, drivers still do not want to come back to Uber.
Drivers are quitting Uber, which means that often there aren’t any Lyft drivers available. They are mostly concerned about their physical wellness and are looking for safer and alternative ways to make money with delivery jobs, or working online.
Keep in mind that drivers are responsible to clean their car to slow down the spread of the virus with car disinfectant wipes after each ride. Except for three pilot cities — Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City, Uber does not offer any compensation for cleaning supplies and time spent cleaning vehicles during the pandemic. This means additional work and disruption to the driver’s work day.
The result is longer wait times and higher prices for the customer.
Uber is working hard and trying to find solutions to mitigate the problems related to “Uber no drivers available”. Recently, the ride-hailing app reached a deal to list New York City taxis on its app.
The big question is: are Uber drivers happy? In October 2020, just before the vote for Prop 22, the San Francisco headquartered company conducted a survey with drivers.
The Uber satisfaction survey was designed to help the company understand what their drivers think about the company, the brand, and the support from the company.
The results of the driver survey showed that while rideshare drivers are mostly satisfied by the flexibility of the job, including the instant payment and the efforts done by Uber to ensure safety in the platform , they are mostly unsatisfied with the pay and the Uber support.
The Uber driver retention rate is on average 4%. This means that most of the drivers quit the platform after one year.
At BestReferralDriver we receive emails about drivers trying to contact the Uber driver helpline to complain about different kinds of driver issues with Uber.
In February 2021, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi: "I'm worried about one thing going into the second half of the year… will we have enough drivers to meet the demand that we're going to have in the mobility segment?"
Due to driver shortages, Uber began forming alliances with taxi firms.
NYC taxi apps, Flywheel in San Francisco, and Radio Taxi Italia are among the major Uber taxis partners.
Another cause of the Uber shortage is the driver pay. According to Uber , there are 3,9 million drivers out there.
However, rideshare drivers are not employees but independent contractors. As any business owner, they are always looking for ways to maximize their earnings .
Uber and Lyft drivers know that working during the best times they can work more efficiently. From a customer point of view, these best times for drivers are the bad times you should always avoid. Indeed, Uber is used to raising the ride prices with surge pricing.
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The answer is clear: NO! Scheduling an Uber in advance doesn’t guarantee you a ride and will not give you priority when a driver becomes available. The same goes for tipping your driver in advance.
Basically, the Uber reservation feature will only help you save time and make your life easier as you won’t have to spend time inserting all the information at the time you wish to book your ride.
For example, you can schedule a morning ride ahead of time without having to wake up early by scheduling it the night before.
Scheduled Uber rides are sent automatically to Uber drivers a quarter of an hour before and will be treated as a standard ride.
This means that customers will be able to get the estimated time and cost of the trip, as with any ride.
Scheduled rides are also subject to surge pricing .
Common complaints that riders shared with us are:
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Oops something went wrong! You might not be the only one having problems with Uber! If it isn't working for you, it is probably also not working for other riders as well. In this case, it’s an app-wide issue and you cannot solve it, you just need to be patient and wait for Uber to fix the issue. Here are some useful solutions when you encounter common issues and problems with the Uber App.
Is the Uber app not working only for you? Then you have to start looking at local issues. Trying to close the app or website, and reopening it, might fix the issue. It may also help to log out and log back in. This should resync everything and move the cogs back into place.
If problems persist, you want to make sure you’re running the latest version of the app. In order to update an installed app to its latest version you can go to the Apple store or Google Play Store.
This is our favorite solution. Generally, restarting your device when Uber isn’t working will fix about 90% of all your tech problems. You can also try to put your phone in airplane mode. This often gets things back up and running.
We suggest you consult our guide to DownDetector. You can find solutions to many app outages problems.
Now that you find out what it means when uber says no cars available and why there are no ubers available, is there a solution? We looked at the various strategies that users deployed to resolve this Uber no cars available issue
If you are not in a rush, you can try to make your ride request again and patiently wait for the app to load or start working again.
Keep in mind that in major cities across the US, Uber made partnerships with taxi services. If there are no Uber drivers near you, your ride request will be automatically redirected to a taxi service. Take a look at our guide to Taxi in San Francisco and NYC Taxi apps.
If you’re still encountering the same ‘There are currently no Uber available’ error, move down to the next method below.
The Uber app is stuck on looking for nearby drivers and you are in a rush? Some users struggling to resolve the ‘Uber no cars available’ error have managed to fix the problem by changing the ride types.
From carpool rides, to green rides, to luxury cars and even non medical transportation rides, Uber has a wide choice of options. If the first time you didn’t succeed, you can try to request an Uber by changing the car option. It could be that there are no available drivers in the first option that you chose, but maybe more drivers in the second option you choose.
If you are stuck without a ride, one of the easiest things to do is to find other car services. If you browse BestReferralDrier, you will see that Uber is not the only rideshare app available. There are many other options that work similarly to Uber.
Fast growing companies like Alto Rideshare offering drives that do not reflect problems you may encounter with Uber and trying to offer a better service to their riders and a better working environment to their drivers.
Using Lyft and not Uber can sometimes be the better choice. Lyft is currently offering more incentives to their drivers. If you are a new user, do not forget to use our promo code to sign up. You will get free credit to use on your next ride.
Some users have managed to resolve the issue by switching from rideshare to bike share. In busy cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco, using e-scooters and bikes is convenient, faster and can even save you money.
Especially during COVID times, choosing to ride with a bike or e-scooter is a better option as it is outdoor and you do not have to sit in a closed space in contact with the driver.
For those who like fresh air and staying outside, or even exploring the city, this is a good option for you. You are your own driver and you choose how to get to your destination. You also get to skip out on traffic as you can often use bike lanes or other specific lanes designated to people who are not driving a car.
Take a look at our guide and discover the low price of Bird scooters. If you are new to Lime use our promo code to get free credit to use on your first ride.
Due to the Covid, this is mostly the safest option. If you need a ride to the airport, you can instead book a cheap parking spot. You can take a look at our guide on how to find cheap parking in Los Angeles and Denver. Some of our tips can be used in all airports across the US.
Of course, Uber rideshare is not going out of business. During the pandemic Uber Technology expanded its business to other areas with the acquisition of Postmates, Drizzly and Cornershop. It may have encountered a few shortages and other challenges, but it still remains successfully in function and is not shutting down.
Right now, there are more than ten companies owned by Uber.The diversification of its activities is also one of the ways it faces ruthless competition with DoorDash.
As of October 2021, DoorDash has 55% of the market share in the US. The San Francisco based food delivery company is growing fast. DoorDash customers can order everything they want from the DashMart convenience stores and get them delivered in less than 30 minutes.
Before starting a trip request, you can open the Uber app and see how many cars are in your area using the live map. The car graphics driving around are a simplified image of driver availability. This will help you get an idea of the availability of drivers in your area, and possibly the waiting time you might encounter while waiting for your driver to pick you up.
If on the Uber map on the app you see the icon of the car spinning back and forth, this typically means that the driver is paused somewhere. Maybe it is stopped at the traffic light and it is not moving forward much nor moving backward much.
When the Uber app says “requesting”, this means that the ride algorithm sends the request to the nearest drivers. Once you are paired, you will get an update message with the name of the driver, the model of the car they are driving and the plate of the car.
Now you know what's going on with Uber when you get the “Uber No Cars Available” message. When finding your ride with Uber seems difficult, try one of the methods above.
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