11 May Commuters Claim Uber is Capitalising on Their Inability to Get to Work During London Tube Strikes
A screenshot of a commuter’s Uber app showing their requested ride would cost almost 3 times the normal rate during a tube strike
With the next tube strike scheduled to take place on May 7, many people are wondering if Uber’s prices will be as high as they were during the previous strikes that took place this year.
2017 began with London commuters outraged because of the significant increase in price for Uber rides during the tube strikes. London residents were extremely unhappy; not only because of the lack of train service, but also the notable surge in prices for private taxi companies. The private taxi company, Uber, has been accused of taking advantage of commuter’s misfortune by increasing their prices three times the normal rate during these strikes.
Uber is a luxurious alternative for your classic black cab ride, with its drivers being the owners of the car you are picked up in. By the touch of a button on the Uber app, one can be picked up within a few minutes by a driver who is willing to take them to their desired destination. Uber is generally considered to be a cheaper alternative to a cab ride, however, when prices surge as they did during the tube strikes, this private cab company can be looked at as the more expensive choice of transportation in the city.
The tube strikes that caused commuting chaos took place on January 9, February 22 and March 7, with the January strike being the most complained about of them all. Up to around 4,000 tube station workers walked out for the January strike in contention of the 900 station jobs recently cut at that time. Most of the Zone 1 tube stations were completely closed for 24 hours, which led many commuters to use other transportation alternatives including Uber to get to work on this day.
Uber reported that there were 30 times more fare split rides than usual during this time, which means multiple people shared the same Uber, splitting the cost of the ride. Uber also stated that some Uber riders took about 15 Uber trips due to the strike between Monday January 9 and Wednesday January 11, as many issues caused by the strike were still being resolved during these days.
“My father’s an Uber driver and although he didn’t drive during the tube strikes, he said that it would have been a great day to earn extra money because the demand was so high,” said London South Bank University student Tina Wong.
Commuters claim Uber cashed in on their inability to get to work, as some Uber riders reported their five minute Uber rides costing between £27 and £35. Uber has been accused of unfairly exploiting a situation that the public cannot control, which seems to happen every time there is a strike.
Many Uber riders took to social media platforms such as Twitter and expressed their indignant complaints regarding the high fares for Uber during the tube strikes.
One Uber user tweeted: “So can I forward my uber bill to London Underground then? #TubeStrike.”
Another tweeted: “I think @Uber was the real winner of the #tubestrike today. Must have made so much money while taking advantage of Londoners.”
What many people do not understand is the way that Uber does their pricing and if there is an actual explanation behind Uber surging their prices, especially during such discommoding times.
Pricing for Uber is very tricky and revolves around all different subcategories for the exact time you choose to order an Uber. The cost of an Uber ride is a sum of speed, distance and the amount of cars available within your area. Other factors that may affect the price of an Uber ride also include what the weather is like, if it is a holiday and if a special event is taking place within the area you wish to Uber to.
To break down the price of what you are actually paying for and how it is calculated when you order an Uber, there are four different factors. These factors are the base fee, cost per minute, cost per mile and the minimum fare. The base fee is £2.50, cost per minute is £0.15, cost per mile is £1.25 and the minimum fare of an Uber ride is £5. Uber is notorious for surging their prices for rides when demand level is high, which explains why the cost of different Uber rides vary and can skyrocket on some days and be very low on others.
“Uber uses dynamic pricing to ensure that people can always book a car when they need it. The fare increases automatically, and only in response to real-time demand when there are not enough available cars. As all of the licensed drivers who use the Uber app work independently, higher fares incentivise more drivers to go online so we can help more people get where they need to go. Without this pricing model there would simply be no cars available,” said an Uber spokesperson.
Uber recognizes the public’s complaints, however, they continue to surge prices when there is a higher demand for cars within a given hour or day. Therefore, the dramatic increase in prices for Uber during the tube strikes could have been predicted, as the only people guaranteed a ride that day were commuters who were willing to pay high prices for transport.
Uber has been greatly criticized for their surge pricing over the years and they have previously stated: “Surge pricing allows us to maximize the number of cars on the road and ultimately provide you with a reliable ride back home at the end of the night. Our goal is to give you the information you need to make a decision about using Uber at times of extreme demand.”
People tend to blame Uber drivers during times in which there is a high surge, however, these drivers are not the ones determining the surge price. The surge price slowly increases when there begins to be a high demand for cars within an area. Uber then informs drivers to get on the road as the demand for rides increases and the surge continues to accumulate. This typically gets more drivers on the road due to demand in the area. However, if not many drivers choose to capitalize on the surge pricing then there will be less cars on the road, which allows the surge prices for Uber rides to continue to rise temporarily.
“Even though the tube strikes were clearly an inconvenience to commuting Londoners, I don’t believe that Uber did anything wrong. Many said that they were exploiting people on the back of a bad situation but their business is based on location and driver availability. If they all of a sudden had a lot more business at peak times because of the tube strike, I think they are completely in their right to exercise surge pricing,” said Tom Paisley, a Social Media Analyst and Marketing Manager at Smart Energy GB.
Many people question which is a better option—Uber or a Black Cab? The difference between Uber and Black Cabs is that Black Cab prices are always at a fixed rate and the business does not have the option of being able to change or increase prices on certain days.
When deciding whether to choose Uber or a Black Cab on a given day, take into consideration what kind of day it is and if there are plenty of cars on the road. If you were to take a cab when traffic is standstill, it would not be worth it based on the price increase over time. However, if a situation were to occur similar to the tube strike, choosing to ride in a cab over Uber may be the more ideal option money wise. When comparing the two, Uber is most likely to cost less, however, on days in which the surge price for Uber is extremely high, Black Cabs are the better option.
“The fault to me lies with the strikes and a not a legitimate business. Commuters still had the option of using Black Cabs or walking, so can’t claim they were exploited in my opinion,” added Paisley.
Although residents wish to get their money back from the days they resulted in using Uber because of local tube strikes, they simply cannot. One can say that Uber drivers took advantage of the public’s misfortune, and Uber drivers can argue they did so because they were able to earn more money. It may not seem ethical, but Uber allows the surge price to become significantly high when many people are requesting rides at the same time. Those who choose to use the app on these days agree to pay the price of the increase in demand of Uber rides across London.
Therefore, prices for Uber rides are bound to rise during the next tube strike and those willing to pay the higher fares will be guaranteed a ride. If millions of commuters are struggling to find a ride to work, there are only so many cars available to get an Uber ride in. Although it may not seem fair, the people to blame for this issue is Transport of London, not Uber.
