From The Awl:
Surge Dread
There are certain concerns that naturally emerge whenever a sufficiently threatening disaster looms over New York City. They vary in nuance from neighborhood to neighborhood, class to class, person to person, but in broad strokes, they tend to be fairly consistent: Will my home be okay? When will I be able to work so I can get paid? The internet will work, right? How will I get around the city?
In recent years, for a certain category of people, the latter worry has taken on a shape particular to our time and place:
Honestly if this isn't the biggest snow storm of all time I'm going to be disappointedThis “dread” of Uber surge pricing, whether it’s because the city’s entire transit infrastructure is on the verge of being crippled by a natural disaster or merely because you know that you are not the only drunk person who wants to flee from the bar without waiting for the subway at 1am on Saturday because, well, you’re older than you used to be and more than a little worse for the wear and you just want to get home to your flannel pajamas after spending eighty dollars on four mezcal margaritas, is by far the most persistent and popular—and galvanizing!—form of antipathy expressed for Uber, far beyond its ruthlessness, its labor practices, or its effects on transit infrastructure. It appears to be a monolithic emotion—“surge pricing sucks!” “more like gouge pricing”—but there are more subtle shadings at play: The most immediate is the natural disinclination toward paying a higher price for something, the pain of more money floating out of a checking account (if in a bizarre, superficially unreal away).
— Zak Kukoff (@zck) January 25, 2015
But the outrage experienced by those with a touch more foresight is actually a form of resignation and despair: The problem that these people have with surge pricing is rooted in the certainty that one day Uber, which is undercharging for its services in a drastically unsustainable way in order to fuel outrageous levels of growth, is going to win.
And, when it does, after eliminating taxis and other car services—and maybe some forms of public transit in some cities!—it will extract a terrible toll for the convenience, probably when people need it most. Not because Uber is evil or attempting to punish its users, but just because it’s good business; Uber is, after all, the most publicly pitiless company of our time. (This is the same basic reason that people are afraid of—and investors still love—Amazon: Prices are unbelievably low right now, but one day, when everybody else is out of business, it will finally screw everyone in a monumental way.)
Every time these people—who are, very often, prolific Uber riders—are hit by surge pricing, the jolt to their limbic system is a reminder of what’s coming. This is why they cannot be placated by being told, “well, just don’t take Uber” or “call a cab” or “ride the subway.” For them, there already is no other option but Uber....MORE
