In my personal experiences, local drivers (ones who grew up in the city) know where they're going on Uber. Sadly I can't request for a driver who won't take 3 wrong turns before they even get to me...
I never get local drivers. Here in Austin everyone drives in from San Antonio or one of the little suburbs and tries to navigate downtown and can't figure it out at all. Don't even try to go to an event down the back roads. They won't know them so hopefully you do.
Wouldn't these guys get enough low rankings because of that to be kicked off the platform?
That almost makes it worse, it keeps the ratio of brand new drivers high. There's only so many people who know the city and want to drive for Uber, and they're outnumbered by those who don't know the city and want to drive.
downvote drivers who make poor navigation decisions!