Economy
In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 24 January 2014 [View all]DemReadingDU
(16,001 posts)Audio at link, appx 4 minutes
1/24/14 When A $65 Cab Ride Costs $192 by Lisa Chow
Lisa Chow says...
I was in the car for about an hour, rolling around Manhattan in the middle of a snowstorm. The ride normally would have cost me $65. But when it came time to pay, my driver, Kirk Furye, was concerned for me. "Are you going to get in trouble with NPR?" he asked. "You are almost at three times the [normal] amount."
Final cost of a one-hour cab ride: $192.00.
I had found Furye through Uber, a company that makes an app that connects cabs and cars with people who are looking for rides. One thing about Uber: When there's a lot of demand like, say, in the middle of a snowstorm the price goes way up.
Uber calls this surge pricing; a lot of people might call it gouging. But Uber drivers aren't employees with hourly schedules; they choose when and whether to drive. And, Uber says, raising prices when demand is high is a way to get more drivers on the road to meet that demand.
more...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/01/24/265396928/when-a-65-cab-ride-costs-192