How do I decide whether to wait at the airport or move to a short-trip zone?

In my day-to-day, I do rideshare with long shifts, gas costs, and demand that changes by the hour. The problem that made me stop was this: waiting at the airport seemed safe, but sometimes it paid less per hour than short trips. The symptom that made me investigate it seriously was that the queue moved slowly and high fares didn't compensate for the downtime. I preferred not to improvise…