How Many Stops Will the SuperShuttle Make?

March 27th, 2019

Customers often want to know exactly how many stops our shared-ride vans will make during their trip to or from the airport. Because so many factors go into how many stops each van will make, and those factors may change the next time you use our service, we are unable to guarantee an exact number of stops in advance of booking. Instead, we use custom technology to streamline our routes, and we keep prices low to offset the time spent in our vans.

To learn more about how we make the most of those empty seats without wearing out your patience, read on.

How It Works

As mentioned in our How it Works page, our reservation and dispatch systems are designed to take into account vehicle capacities, drive time, and population density.  Every time a reservation becomes active for pick-up – usually about 4 hours in advance of the pickup window – our dispatchers work with an automated system to combine passengers heading to or from roughly the same destination. This is called a route. Once the route is complete, it’s then bid out to franchise owner operators (aka our drivers) who then work the route, picking up or dropping off accordingly.

Vehicle Capacity and Population Density

The average amount of stops within a route typically consists of 3 to 4 stops for a 7-passenger van, and 4 to 5 stops for a 10-passenger van. In times of higher passenger demand, the operator may choose to board more passengers going the same route, not to exceed vehicle capacity.

And who doesn’t love being the only passenger during slower travel times? Being the only person picked up for your ride to the airport, or even just being the last pick-up on the way to the airport or first drop-off on the way from it, makes most people feel like it's going to be a good day. (It’s true. We saw it on Twitter)

The larger vans mentioned above are typically available only in extremely dense, highly-trafficked airports, such as JFK airport in New York City. With higher population density, stops are closer together and more frequent.  In cities with lower population density, such as Houston, smaller vans and fewer stops are the norm.

To learn more about each location’s details, please visit our SuperShuttle Locations page. 

Skip the Stops

If you prefer not to make any stops on the way to your destination, we recommend booking SuperShuttle non-stop service (where available), or a private sedan or SUV via our sister service, ExecuCar. The price is higher for each of these options, but booking private transportation eliminates the stops completely for those who don’t want to wait.

If you’re comfortable with spending the extra time in the vehicle to save a few bucks, that’s what we’re here for. Just charge up your smartphone or laptop, and book today!