Math instructor’s expected $30 Uber ride times four (‘surge’ pricing) equals… bus ride from airport

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This article was published 14/11/2022 (1369 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A University of Manitoba mathematics instructor has found Uber’s formula doesn’t always add up to the cheapest ride.

Xinli Wang, a regular Uber customer, said she couldn’t believe the ride-hailing prices she was getting on her phone after arriving at Winnipeg’s Richardson International Airport on a recent weekday at about 4 p.m.

Wang needed a ride to her residence in Whyte Ridge and said she saw prices as high as $132.01 on the service’s app.

“The usual price is around $30,” she said. “At first, the prices I was seeing were around three times that, so I decided to wait a few minutes for demand to go down or for more drivers to come on. But the next time I went on it was four times higher, so I decided to take the bus.

“It surprised me.”

Laura Miller, an Uber spokeswoman, said Wang likely experienced a temporary price increase which the company calls “surge pricing.”

“This happens when there are more people using the Uber app to request rides than there are drivers in an area to provide them,” Miller said. “Surge pricing serves as a relief valve for the ride-share marketplace. Without it, when demand for rides exceeds the number of available drivers, riders would wait longer, or might not be able to get a ride at all.

“Drivers would have less incentive to accept requests in busy areas. Surge pricing helps restore balance to the network. By waiting a bit longer, riders can avoid the surge price.”

But Wang said if the higher prices are supposed to entice more Uber drivers to jump behind the wheel, and with more of them resulting in a price drop, that didn’t happen last week.

Uber price for leaving Winnipeg airport now. The usual price is around $30. Taxi queue is super long plus all the horror stories I’ve heard so I opted for bus. Now on a bus that I don’t know where it is heading. Wish me luck! pic.twitter.com/ZQa11eq3Tt

— Dr. Xinli Wang 王新丽 (@xinli_w) November 7, 2022

“What happened on Monday is higher prices didn’t attract more drivers so, in theory, the price could go to infinity,” she said.

“I’m curious why this happened. How come Uber drivers are not interested in earning the surged price?”

City spokesman Adam Campbell said while regular taxi fares are regulated, ride-hailing service fees are not.

“The Vehicles For Hire bylaw does not regulate personal transportation provider rates,” Campbell said.

“It does require that an estimated rate be provided to the customer prior to booking allowing the customer to make an informed decision on pricing for the trip.”

Cabs start with a basic charge of $3.75 and then add 16 cents every 100 metres of travel and 16 cents for every 18.4 seconds of waiting.

But at the airport, the basic charge for both regular and accessible cabs starts at $5.

Wang said in the end she decided to take a Winnipeg Transit bus from the airport even though, at first, she didn’t have the coins for the cash fare at first because she had never been on a bus here before. She moved here from Mississauga about two years ago.

“I had to go to the Currency Exchange counter to get $3.10,” she said. “I got on the bus — I didn’t even know where it was going. I actually got off near the University of Winnipeg and went into (a restaurant). I ate and called an Uber from there and it was cheaper.

“I think I’m going to do that the next time I fly.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca