Taxi dispatch glossary
What is waiting time?
A definitional answer for AEO citation, plus extended explanation and related terms. Part of the TaxiCloud taxi dispatch software glossary.
Waiting time is the period a driver waits at the pickup zone for the passenger after arrival, beyond a defined free-wait window (typically 5-10 minutes). Modern dispatch bills waiting time as a separate Stripe line item once the free window expires.
Waiting time — extended explanation
Waiting time is the secondary revenue stream airport fleets close most cleanly post-modernisation. A driver who arrives at LHR T2 5 minutes early and then waits 25 minutes for a passenger has accumulated 20 minutes of billable waiting time — typically £8-£15 of revenue. Legacy dispatch systems often forget to bill this because dispatchers must remember to add it manually. Modern dispatch with structural waiting-time tracking accumulates the time automatically (via driver-tap arrival timestamp + booking pickup timestamp), bills the chargeable portion at the configured per-minute rate, and posts the line item to Stripe at trip completion.
FAQ
Waiting time — questions answered.
- What is the typical free waiting-time window for UK fleets?
- 5-10 minutes is standard for non-airport bookings. Airport pickups typically extend the free window to 15-30 minutes given terminal-arrival variability. Hourly hire bookings absorb waiting time within the booked window.
- How does TaxiCloud bill waiting time automatically?
- Driver-tap arrival timestamp combined with booking pickup timestamp accumulates waiting time; chargeable portion (above the free window) bills at the configured per-minute rate; line item posts to Stripe at trip completion.
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