Interview Questions › Root Cause Analysis

Ride-hailing trip completion rate declined; bookings constant

Trip completion rate dropped from 88% to 74% over the last 3 weeks, while customer ride bookings and search intent remained flat. Diagnose the breakdown.

Context

The issue is concentrated in dense metropolitan hubs during morning and evening rush hours.

Clarifying questions to ask first

• Who is cancelling the rides: the driver or the passenger?
• At what exact step is the cancellation occurring (before or after driver dispatch)?

How to approach it

1. Break down the ride fulfillment funnel: Ride Request -> Dispatch Broadcast -> Driver Accepts -> Driver En Route -> Driver Arrives -> Trip Starts -> Trip Completed
2. Isolate whether the drop is Driver Cancellation, Rider Cancellation, or Dispatch Timeout
3. Analyze driver earnings, fuel price hikes, traffic congestion, and upfront fare transparency
4. Examine incentive structures and driver app battery/location permissions

Framework: Ride Fulfillment Funnel Step-by-Step -> Driver Supply Economics & Cancellation Drivers -> Traffic & ETA Latency -> Actionable Triage

Sample answer

• Driver cancellations after accepting due to long pickup distance (>15 mins)
• Riders cancelling due to inaccurate or fluctuating ETAs during rain/traffic
• Drivers asking riders for cash / off-platform trips

1. Funnel data indicates Driver Cancellations after acceptance spiked 250% for trips with pickup distance > 3.5 km
2. Recent matching algorithm expanded dispatch radius to reduce unfulfilled demand, backfiring by assigning distant drivers

Dispatch radius expansion caused driver pickup fatigue and cancellations; tightened dispatch radius back to 2.5km and introduced distant pickup compensation bonuses.

What interviewers look for

• Trip Completion Rate (%)
• Driver Cancellation Rate (%)
• Rider Wait Time / ETA
• Driver Acceptance Rate (%)