I’d start off with some clarifying questions:

– What type of company are we? (Primarily cabs/ pooling /only airport rides etc.)

– Is there a particular geographical area where we are seeing this behavior?

– Will we be able to figure out a time period & any specific time/day of the week where we observe this behavior?

– Are we seeing this particularly in one direction (from/to) or is it for both trips in general?

– Are we measuring the experience after the ride? (If so, through how?)

Based on the responses to the above questions, will get a fair idea of the problem and its scope.

Suggestions:

If we are primarily a ride-hailing company then we can check our metrics on # of airport rides taken, # airport rides cancellations after booking, etc, then we could explore solutions by understanding the drivers’ issues on airport rides, incentives to take up airport rides, increasing cancellation % for drivers, etc.

If it’s a particular geographical area/time period, then we could explore external factors like (if) the journey experience to/from the airport has changed (roads, blocks, traffic increase, etc.), # cab availability.

If it’s a ‘TO’ airport ride issue – We could check metrics like # wait time, ETA changes, # cab availability at the day/time, etc.

If it’s a ‘FROM‘ airport ride issue – We could check metrics like customer waiting time for the cab, # cab availability near the airport proximity at the day/time, and # of cancellations by drivers post-booking.

Beyond this, if we get to know how we are measuring this behavior/metric, we can do more qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Clarify:

• Do we have more information when you say “rider experience”? Is the experience measured based on wait time, travel time, vehicle features for airport riders, and accessibility? open for assumptions
• Is this drop sudden or over time? – over time
• Is this issue observed in a specific city or airport or geography? – Yes, let’s say SJC airport.
• Is there any information on any latest events happening that can potentially cause impacts such as political change, and a rise in travel? – No
• Is there any known competition in the ride-hailing business that is causing premium Uber drivers to leave the platform? – No

• International traveler – took a long flight to the destination, tired and exhausted, carries large luggage,
• Domestic traveler – takes 1-5 hour flight, weekend travel plans, carries light luggage
• Work traveler- domestic, travels to attend meetings, mostly in a hurry, carries light luggage

1. Technical Issue:  App failure, less responsive APIs, bugs that are impacting the way riders haul a ride, and ride match occurs.
2. External Factors: political or env change resulting in reduced popularity amongst premium drivers for Uber this includes construction at the roads /airport, and rallies that are making it difficult to get to and from the airport.
3. New Competition – new ride-hauling business taking away Uber drivers that are resulting in a less to perfect rider experience.
4. New product feature launch – Uber recently launched the “Express Match” feature which is specifically designed for airport ride hauling. This way, uber estimates the demand based on the data analysis, and rides are requested before the rider lands at the airport/reaches the curb. This is expected to reduce the wait time resulting in a better rider experience. However, It does look like there is some glitch in the system that is not letting this express match function as expected, resulting in delays / longer wait times for airport riders.

1. I would reach out to the development and release team that worked on the express match feature and evaluate roll-back until the issue can be identified.
2. To avoid such issues in the future, I will work towards establishing a process that includes a thorough regression testing plan to make sure App users are not impacted. This can be done by establishing a simulated ML/AI-backed algorithm that shows a preview of what the experience will look like for any new feature.
3. I would also work with the communications team to inform all the past riders in the 4-6 weeks history that took rides from SJC airport that we have identified the issue and we are working on it.