I spent two weeks last winter riding along with dispatch analysts in North Harbor, watching requests land on a live city grid. The lesson was blunt: speed is less about one driver being close and more about thousands of quiet decisions made before anyone opens the app.
Availability is designed before demand arrives
The best systems treat a curb like a schedule, not a guess. When a concert lets out, a rain cell crosses downtown, or a train stalls at Central Cut, the product has to move supply with enough confidence that the button still feels simple.