Ride-share drivers getting plenty of work on the streets of Oakmont

Heather Copenhaver’s first 24 hours as an Uber driver went pretty darn well.

“I’m averaging about $32 per hour,” said the Fox Chapel resident.

She was among hundreds — if not thousands — of ride-share drivers shuttling U.S. Open fans in and out of Oakmont throughout the week.

“I started at about 5 p.m. on Friday, and so far I’ve done about 10 rides,” Copenhaver said around 9 a.m. Saturday.

Rob Woomer of Penn Hills has been driving full-time the past nine years for Uber and has been working the U.S. Open all week.

“I’ve been doing about a half-dozen in the morning and the same at night,” Woomer said. “I usually try to shoot for about $300 per day, even when I’m not working an event like this. But working this means I can usually get done early.”

Woomer said he expected to hit his morning half-dozen mark by 10 a.m. Then he can take a break before he joins other Uber drivers who will start hanging around Oakmont in the late afternoon.

Former Marine George Gallo is in charge of making sure the U.S. Golf Association’s ride-share operation on Ninth Street runs smoothly.

In the drizzle on Saturday morning, there was a steady drip of Ubers dropping passengers off, along with a handful of Oakmont residents who just needed to get past.

“The late afternoon is when the real (mess) starts,” Gallo said with a laugh. “We try to make sure people know, don’t call your Uber before you leave the course. Earlier in the week, we had them trying to stack up, because they’d gotten to the pickup 10 minutes before anyone showed up to get in the car.”

In those instances, drivers have to spin the block until their fare arrives.

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Most drivers said they are picking up passengers from hotels either in Harmar or Downtown Pittsburgh. The trip to and from Downtown means roughly an hour per fare.

On Saturday morning, a ride from Downtown to the U.S. Open could cost anywhere between $31 for a shared ride to $73 for an Uber Premier. That price gets bumped up significantly when demand skyrockets in the late afternoon.

Fans heading to the course have to weigh those options against the cost of parking in a Plum or Oakmont front yard, which ran between $30 and $60 earlier in the week. With the weekend championship rounds underway, however, the price range has jumped to between $50 and $100.

Jeff Caballero is from Peru and has been driving for two years with Uber.

“I’m working about six to eight hours each day this week,” he said. “I’m mostly picking people up from Downtown hotels.”

Paul Zankel is a driver for Green’s Cab Service, and his schedule for Saturday was a little more structured.

“I usually work all kinds of special events — weddings, concerts, sports events,” he said. “I book my fares way in advance, so I have six today and I’ll be in and out until I get them all done.”

Gallo said it doesn’t matter to him where the fares are coming from.

“As long as we get ‘em in and get ‘em out,” he said.