Bad tippers, worse traffic: Uber drivers share tales of woe navigating GOP convention

MILWAUKEE — Rideshare drivers revved up here by promises of booming business during the 2024 Republican National Convention and instead have been largely confronted with terrible traffic and awkward conversations.

As thousands of out-of-towners spend the week in the Wisconsin's largest city, drivers for ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft have had to navigate the security zone set around Fiserv Forum where the four-day festivities are taking place.

Here are some of their stories.

Celebrity sightings

Gabrielle Lanoi has shuttled Republican delegates, politicians and journalists around her hometown during the convention as an Uber driver.

The 24-year-old mother and teacher said Uber offered drivers a $10 promotion for each ride during evening hours for the GOP gathering. Subtracting money for gas, she estimated she would pocket about $300 for about six hours of work Tuesday night, averaging about $50 per hour.

This year marks her second summer as a ride-share driver. Once the school year starts, it’s back to the classroom. She’ll teach first-graders at a Catholic school this fall.

Lanoi said she’s not super plugged in to politics so didn’t recognize most of her clients except for some familiar faces from high-profile networks such as CNN.

“It was pretty cool,” she said.

But not all her passengers have been pleasant. One grew angry during a conversation about abortion when she told him she trusts women to make choices about their reproductive health.

“I was like ‘I don’t care what someone does with their body. I don’t care. It’s not my body,’” she recalled telling him.

She described the rest of the long ride as extremely awkward.

Lanoi said she voted for Trump in 2020 but she’s not sure who she plans to support this fall – or if she’ll vote at all. She described Biden and Trump as two “ridiculous” options. But issues such as inflation weigh on her mind.

“It’s ridiculous that apples are $9 for three,” she said.

Disappointed in traffic

Morgan Sanders drives part time before he heads to his full-time job in healthcare every morning.

The 52-year-old Uber driver had high hopes for the RNC coming to Milwaukee and the prospect of more passengers in town.

The Milwaukee native voted for Biden in 2020 but said he's not happy with his options this year.

"All the old guys are stuck in their old ways," he said, even as "everything is changing."

Sanders said the four-day event has hit local businesses hard and benefitted higher-end rideshare companies, leaving part-time drivers and small restaurants and stores with fewer customers .

Bad tippers galore

Iftikhar Hamed gave 32 rides Wednesday. He only got three tips, which is not normal, he said.

The 58-year-old Pakistani-born driver has been working for Uber for around three years and has had to endure not only bad tippers, but also the constantly changing road patterns of downtown Milwaukee.

Security precautions for the convention closed a many streets near the area and resulted in road changes and GPS navigation problems. Hamed said more often than not, he's driving longer distances to get to his passengers, navigating the detours, than his actual rides to destinations.

Hamed said he's not sure who he'll vote for in November, but whoever it is, he wants them to address foreign policy and public safety issues such as the war in Gaza and crime in Milwaukee.

"Whatever (politicians) say, they don't do it anyways," he said.

Avoiding the Republican National Convention

Curtis Boyd is doing his best to keep his Uber away from the RNC. The 77-year-old said he has little choice when the app directs him to pick up a suburban passenger heading into downtown Milwaukee, even if he’s no fan of the road closures that have helped to make downtown Milwaukee something of a ghost town for local businesses.

“I just work for a bit, wherever it takes me,” Boyd said as he navigated his Toyota Sienna onto an interstate ramp into the city Wednesday.

While recognizing he could end up doing loop after loop driving passengers to the convention site, he said he hoped to be far from the convention “as fast as possible.”

The Mississippi native who has been in Wisconsin most of his life is a retired cab driver who a few years ago sold his business and moved over to Uber part time, about four to five hours a day.

“It’s good money,” he said.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Bad tippers, worse traffic: Uber drivers share tales of woe navigating GOP convention