Uber Surge Price? Research Says Walk a Few Blocks, Wait a Few Minutes

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/10/29/452585089/uber-surge-price-research-says-walk-a-few-blocks-wait-a-few-minutes

by ckurose • 11 years ago

68 37 11 years ago

npr.org

__Joker• 11 years ago

How does customer need to counteract if he needs a time sensitive ride? Lets say, I need to go to Airport at time x. Neither I can book earlier to guarantee a ride nor can I wait out the surge.

cobalt• 11 years ago

one unbecomes such a customer and perhaps utilizes a service of a lesser price, or sucks it up and pays the extra fee

monort2• 11 years ago

Use a transfer service, which offers pre-orders. Uber is losing all my airport rides because they don't have it.

TeMPOraL2• 11 years ago

They probably don't want it anyway. It's more profitable for both Uber and the drivers to not take such rides; in the time to and back from airport they could take several within the city.

peteretep• 11 years ago

One uses the many minicab or prebooked services instead? Uber exists for the use case of needing a car right now. Needing a car later was a pretty well served use case in most of the world

rconti• 11 years ago

Well, typically 5 minutes won't hurt your airport trip. I've only paid surge pricing a couple of times in dozens of Uber trips, and both times it was post-bar hours in Redondo Beach, and the 2x surge price was still far cheaper than here in SF.

deathtrader666• 11 years ago

Nope.

This doesn't work.

I've walked more than a couple of miles, and waited more than an hour.. the surge stays between 4X to 5X.

mml• 11 years ago

In my experience, surge pricing on a nice day doesn't last long. When the weather is nuts, you're gonna pay. Too bad I'm not a researcher.

mw67• 11 years ago

Or use this app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/surgeprotector/id925613132?m...

swypych• 11 years ago

Cool concept, but it keeps crashing (iPhone 6, iOS8.4)

msde2• 11 years ago

Or use a new company like https://fasten.com/ who doesnt do surge pricing.

3princip• 11 years ago

No surge pricing ... however if you're late for work ... you can always Boost your ride.

The website explains to boost ones ride is to apply a multiplier to the price. One might call this a surge.

msde2• 11 years ago

That's just good economics. Fasten clearly understands economics and incentives far better than Uber does.

Uber is the classic case of aggressive government style intervention in a market causing it to collapse - no riders or drivers in high demand areas during surge pricing. This is a total failure of market policy because no price discrimination is allowed.

Fasten is akin to setting minimum wage. They set a low base price but if you want to get somewhere faster or get preference during a busy period then YOU can raise your price by what it's worth to you.

This is a big stumbling block for Uber to which Fasten has a rather decent solution.

ryanx435• 11 years ago

just like I refuse to pay covers at bars, I refuse to pay surge pricing. Uber is my go to app, but if they are doing surge pricing than I switch to ihail (an Uber clone run by a taxi company). if they ate busy, than I use lyft as a last resort. I hate using lyft because they don't offer a fare estimate.

using this process I have saved myself 100s of dollars in ride fares.

saalweachter• 11 years ago

Maybe someone should write an app that does this automatically.

eastbayjake• 11 years ago

I hate using lyft because they don't offer a fare estimate.

Where are you using these apps? In the Bay Area, I like Lyft better than Uber because Lyft gives you a specific fare but Uber gives you a range. (FWIW, there are many other reasons I like Lyft better than Uber.)

mezeek• 11 years ago

The simplest way is to move the pickup point ever so slightly until you reach a spot without surge pricing, then simply walk there as it arrives.

turnip1979• 11 years ago

Last time I encountered a 4x surge pricing, I downloaded Lyft ... the minute I ordered it, surge pricing ended (really annoyed me and I went with Lyft anyways). If it wasn't for surge pricing, I'd be cheerleading for Uber. Surge pricing adds a level of uncertainty ... and 4x on a 50 dollar ride is insane if it ends in a few minutes.

viscanti• 11 years ago

Isn't that the whole point of surge pricing? It's attempting to balance supply and demand. On the supply side it's trying to get more drivers where there's more demand. On the demand side, it's trying to see if you really need a ride, or if you can walk a couple blocks or if you can wait a few minutes.

toomuchtodo2• 11 years ago

If surge pricing is enabled in order to temper demand until supply can catch up, it promotes supply from places Uber may not like (Lyft).

No app yet to query Lyft and Uber, see who is cheaper at the moment, and launch the cheaper provider?

chipgap98• 11 years ago

I actually prefer Lyft, but I use both simply because of surge pricing. Being in Boston though, between Lyft and Uber and their pooling options, I feel like I rarely pay for surge when I'm going somewhere alone.

Also, sometime I Uber or Lyft of the busy area (i.e. outside of a concert or sporting event) and then call another one that won't have surge pricing.

jdlyga• 11 years ago

I always just try the request again a minute later and surge pricing is usually gone.

Uber Surge Price? Research Says Walk a Few Blocks, Wait a Few Minutes

Related Stories