Yesterday you may have been rocked by news of a subway shooting in New York City where a gunman shot 10 people. While the matter is still being investigated and a person of interest has been identified, many were surprised to see a rise in fare pricing on Uber and Lyft following the incident.
As Engadget reports, some commuters took to Twitter to query the alleged price gouging for fares, especially after a traumatic incident where lives may have been lost.
In some instances a short ride would start from $80 (~R1 157) or more, with both ride sharing platforms coming under criticism for it.
As a result both Uber and Lyft have chosen to suspend surge pricing in the affected area surrounding where the subway shooting took place.
“Our hearts go out to the victims of this morning’s terrible shooting in Sunset Park. Following the incident, Uber disabled surge pricing in the vicinity and capped pricing citywide,” a spokesperson told Engadget. The publication received similar word from Lyft, although a statement was not made at the time of writing.
Both companies are also looking into ways to refund riders, with the Uber spokesperson telling Engadget that, “If anyone on our platform experienced unintended charges during this emergency, we will work to get them refunded.”
Lyft, however, made no mention of a refund, but did state that it is, “working to adjust fares for certain riders who paid prime-time prices when the situation first unfolded.”
For now, it remains unclear how long the surge pricing suspension will be in place, but seeing as how many commuters might fear travelling on a train at the moment, our hope is that it’s in place for the next few days at least.
Either way, it does not place either platform in the best light, but this is not the first time that automated systems on ridesharing services have surged pricing following a catastrophic event.
It is therefore another example of how human intervention could have added context to the equation and potentially averted this bad PR.
[Image – Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash]
