Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Photo: Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

San Francisco International’s new location for ride-hail pickups has left some riders and drivers frustrated when it caused traffic backups leading to longer waits— the exact problems it was supposed to prevent.

The airport diverted ride-hailing pickups to the top floor of the domestic parking garage starting last week, saying the cars were choking its roadways. It redesigned the rooftop level with new striping and several waiting areas for passengers. Uber and Lyft protested the change, particularly since it eliminated a program in which drivers dropping off passengers could immediately be paired with people seeking a ride home.

The transition’s initial hours went smoothly, but since then there have been backups, particularly during the peak evening arrival times. Sunday night — already the busiest time of the week — was particularly fraught, after a vehicle stalled on a roadway and police and tow trucks responding.

There is only one vehicle entrance to the new rooftop pickup location.

San Francisco resident Katie Wright landed at SFO around 10 p.m. Sunday from Nashville and went to one of the six rooftop zones to meet an Uber. She encountered about 150 riders milling around, while traffic seemed at a standstill.

“It was absolute gridlock with cars, utter confusion in the dark,” she said. “It seems like they’re punishing people for wanting to take (ride-hail cars) instead of cabs. It looked like a lot of people were really confused by the time they go to that (pickup) area.”

After a long wait, she canceled the ride and took BART to the Mission District and then an Uber to her Inner Sunset home.

Uber and Lyft said wait times and congestion had increased. Uber said waits on Sunday evening almost tripled to an average 22.5 minutes. A third of riders canceled their Uber requests, compared with an average of 7.1% the prior Sunday.

“Unfortunately, our concerns about the recent changes to the SFO pickup experience were confirmed this past Sunday,” Uber said in a statement.

“These backups have raised further questions on whether the garage ramps can contend with the increased vehicle volume required during peak hours,” Lyft said.

The company said the loss of the ability to match drop-offs and pick-ups meant more vehicles were needed.

SFO said it will continue to evaluate and adjust the system.

“Getting (ride-hailed cars) through the inbound roadway (shared with taxis and private vehicles) has been the main challenge,” SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said in an email.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid