Thursday, December 11, 2014

Big Storm For San Francisco Means Uber Jacks Prices to Highest Ever

The way Uber does surge pricing does not shed load in the manner of hotel pricing, It is more akin to gouging.
Call it "storm surge pricing".

From CBS San Francisco:
Uber Surge Prices Highest Ever During Big #BayAreaStorm; Fares 3.8X Normal Rate
The Bay Area got hit by a double-whammy Thursday: the biggest storm in years, and the highest Uber fares ever, giving new meaning to ‘surge pricing.’

The Twittersphere lit up as Uber fares skyrocketed during the much anticipated #stormageddon. One woman tweeted, “when we talk about ‘storm surge’ we’re really talking about Uber prices right?”
By early morning rush hour, Uber was charging $.99 cents/minute or $4.94/mile. The minimum fare was over $16.00.

During times of high demand, Uber fares are subject to a surge multiplier. Thursday morning’s multiplier was 3.8 times the normal fare....MORE
For all the whiners the simple fact is there are people who can spend $100 for a twenty-mile ride and people who can't.
(just kidding, I don't much care for Uber's style)

On a more positive note, it looks as if the winter rains are showing up, after three years of the disappearing act.

Previously:
El Niño: "The ARkStorm Scenario Could Flood California's Central Valley like a Bathtub and Cost $725 Billion"