The problem
A ride offer can look simple:
£11
But that one number leaves out most of the decision.
How far away is the passenger?
How long is the passenger trip?
How many miles are involved?
What will the vehicle cost to run?
Could the drop-off leave you with extra unpaid distance afterwards?
And, most importantly, what counts as a worthwhile offer for you?
Why it matters
There is no universal fare that is “good”.
A £10 trip might suit one driver and not another because their vehicles, costs, targets and working preferences are different.
The most useful way to judge an offer is to break it into parts.
That makes the decision less emotional and less dependent on the headline fare.
How to work it out
Use this checklist.
1. Fare
What is the headline amount?
2. Pickup
How many minutes and miles will it take to reach the passenger?
3. Passenger journey
How much time and distance is shown for the trip itself?
4. Total analysed time
Add the time you choose to include in the decision.
5. Total analysed distance
Include the distance that matters to your calculation.
6. Vehicle cost
Estimate the fuel or energy cost using your own vehicle assumptions.
7. Dead Miles
Decide whether you want to allow for possible non-revenue driving after drop-off.
8. Your targets
Compare the result with your own £/hour and £/mile thresholds.
The driver’s thresholds are the important part. A number only becomes useful when it is compared with what the driver personally considers acceptable.
Simple worked example
Illustrative example
- Fare: £11
- Pickup time: 6 minutes
- Pickup distance: 2 miles
- Passenger time: 18 minutes
- Passenger distance: 7 miles
- Simple analysed time before any Dead Miles allowance: 24 minutes
- Simple analysed distance before any Dead Miles allowance: 9 miles
Time rate
£11 ÷ 24 minutes × 60 = £27.50/hour
Distance rate
£11 ÷ 9 miles ≈ £1.22/mile
Now imagine the driver has configured:
- preferred hourly target: £25/hour;
- preferred distance target: £1.10/mile.
In this simplified example, both analysed rates are above those example thresholds.
That does not mean the article is telling the driver to accept the ride.
A Dead Miles allowance, fuel/energy cost, real traffic or other personal factors might change the picture. The driver makes the final choice.
What to watch out for
Do not let one metric make the whole decision
A strong £/hour can hide lots of miles. A strong £/mile can hide a slow job.
The offer is an estimate of what is ahead
Traffic and waiting can change.
Your vehicle matters
Fuel or energy use changes the economics.
Your own targets matter more than somebody else’s rules
A social-media post saying “never take less than X” does not know your vehicle, market, costs or priorities.
Safety comes first
Do not interact with analytics or calculations in a way that distracts you while driving.
How FareWorth helps
FareWorth is built around this same decision process.
On supported driver apps, it brings together the visible fare, pickup and passenger-journey information, applies the driver’s own settings and produces analysed £/hour and £/mile figures.
It can also apply the driver’s chosen Dead Miles treatment and vehicle-cost settings where relevant.
FareWorth then compares the analysed result with the driver’s configured minimum and preferred thresholds and presents clear guidance.
It does not press the platform’s accept or reject buttons.
Your thresholds. Your call.
Practical takeaway
Before judging an offer, ask:
- What is the fare?
- How long is the pickup?
- How long and how far is the passenger trip?
- What will the vehicle cost to run?
- Do I want to allow for dead miles?
- How does the result compare with my own targets?
That is a better decision than looking at the fare alone.