Online Time vs. Engaged Time
Online time is the time you are available in the driver app. Engaged or booked time usually starts when you accept a request and ends when the ride finishes. Check the exact labels used in your app and market.
Follow one shift
Say you go online at 5:00 p.m., accept a ride at 5:20 and drop the rider off at 5:45. If you then wait online until 6:00, the hour contains 25 engaged minutes and 35 minutes available for a request.
If the ride earns $20, the gross rate is $20 per online hour. Scaling up the $20 by just the 25 engaged minutes produces $48 per engaged hour. That figure answers a different question.
Pick a denominator for the job
If you want to know what a shift paid for your time, include the waiting. If you want to check a platform’s active-time rule or offer, use the rule’s own definition and compare it with the app’s labels.
When you compare two reports, make sure both use online time or both use engaged time. RideWage’s public hourly figure uses eligible online time and excludes summaries missing that field.