Short ride, high per kilometre: the trap of the ratio alone
The most flattering ratio of your day can be your worst ride.
Updated on August 13, 2026
Is a ride at €2.80/km necessarily good?
No. A five-kilometre ride at fourteen euros shows €2.80/km, an excellent ratio. But fourteen euros do not cover the approach, the ride, the drop-off and the repositioning — often half an hour of your shift for the price of a fifteen-minute trip.
Why does price per kilometre mislead on short rides?
Because it relates revenue to distance, never to time. On a short ride, the share of non-driving time — approach, waiting, manoeuvring — becomes the majority. The ratio stays high while your hourly revenue collapses.
This is exactly the case the minimum-fare rule handles: it rejects the ride before the ratio is even computed, because no ratio can rescue an amount that is too small.
Should you look at hourly revenue rather than price per kilometre?
Both, in this order: a floor amount first, price per kilometre next, hourly revenue as information. The floor protects your time, the price per kilometre protects your costs. Hourly revenue is something you observe at the end of the day.