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Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

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Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#31

Post by Waterluvian »

deweller wrote: post #9

> They can’t afford to pickup people at Reagan for $4 in rush hour traffic. Are they really getting paid $4 to give someone a ride? That seems so low that drivers would be incentivized to find another job.

I'm not sure if the number is accurate but I do know how amazingly stubborn humans can be in finding a new job. I've had people refuse to quit a job that they groan about every day when I've offered them almost double the salary to work elsewhere with far better terms.

Humans are risk averse and those who live paycheck to paycheck are especially so. It defies logic until you consider that their fear of the unknown + small chance they end up with no job has a massive adjustment weight applied to it in their minds.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#33

Post by metalliqaz »

i_am_proteus wrote: post #11
gdhbcc wrote: post #5

I dont see how Lyft gets off calling this fraudulent. Seems to me it's the system working as intended, and as it should. Drivers dont want to drive for under a certain value, so they simply inform the app who adjusts the value to fulfill demand. Seems like its what you want to happen.

And it only works as long as all of the drivers in an area agree: one or two drivers who don't join the scheme, and it doesn't work.

Not all. The large majority, but not all. There are very likely one or two drivers in the area that don't participate, simply because they aren't in the parking lot at the moment they orchestrate the mass logout. Surge pricing is about supply and demand, so if expected demand is high (like at an airport) they need a lot more than one or two drivers.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#34

Post by klausjensen »

giaour wrote: post #8

As much as I would be displeased if my fare were manipulated, I can only blame Uber and Lyft for this. They created an incentive for drivers to act as a unit, and groups of drivers are figuring it out. Really makes you long for the transparent, posted pricing of municipal taxis

>> Really makes you long for the transparent, posted pricing of municipal taxis

...Absolutely not.

I live in Malta, where Uber does not exist, but similar services do + local regulated taxis.

It is extremely clear who gets a rating and who does not give a f### about reputation and repeat business.

The only ones who use the real taxis here are tourists. I don't know anybody local (expat or native), who would use the "real" taxi company.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#35

Post by rjf72 »

Konnstann wrote: post #6

"On average, Lyft drivers earn over $20 per hour." I wonder if this figure takes into account all the waiting time, or just driving time on the app. If it is the latter, then that's a pretty scummy thing to say, considering that most drivers spend less than a third of the time actually driving people to their destination, putting the actual number closer to 7.00 an hour.

The hourly rated is based on the time that the app is active. So that hourly rated would include wasted time waiting for customer, driving to pick them up, etc.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#36

Post by madeofpalk »

lexs wrote: post #18
wlesieutre wrote: post #12

News flash: if you go out of your way to classify your entire workforce as contractors, you don't get to decide when they work or not. It turns out this has consequences on both sides. If Lyft wants to decide when their drivers are working, there's a process for this: 1) Hire employees 2) Give them a schedule 3) Pay them hourly plus mileage

And suddenly Uber/Lyft are like any other Taxi company just with a massive valuation.

Exactly.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#37

Post by shereadsthenews »

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #13

Seems to me that if they're contractors they should have the ability to set their own rates. What's unfortunate is that they have to trick the app.

If Uber was a true platform with sellers able to ask for a price the wouldn't need this indirect means of influencing it.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#38

Post by metalliqaz »

lexs wrote: post #18
wlesieutre wrote: post #12

News flash: if you go out of your way to classify your entire workforce as contractors, you don't get to decide when they work or not. It turns out this has consequences on both sides. If Lyft wants to decide when their drivers are working, there's a process for this: 1) Hire employees 2) Give them a schedule 3) Pay them hourly plus mileage

And suddenly Uber/Lyft are like any other Taxi company just with a massive valuation.

If their workforce suddenly switched from contractor to employee, I expect that valuation would evaporate.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#39

Post by mikeash »

metalliqaz wrote: post #33
i_am_proteus wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it only works as long as all of the drivers in an area agree: one or two drivers who don't join the scheme, and it doesn't work.

Not all. The large majority, but not all. There are very likely one or two drivers in the area that don't participate, simply because they aren't in the parking lot at the moment they orchestrate the mass logout. Surge pricing is about supply and demand, so if expected demand is high (like at an airport) they need a lot more than one or two drivers.

I don’t think it even necessarily needs to be a large majority. It just needs to be enough such that the remaining drivers aren’t sufficient to meet demand. Depending on circumstances, that could require anywhere from one driver to all of them.

It’s a great illustration of how supply and demand work to determine prices.

Re: Uber, Lyft drivers manipulate fares at DCA causing artificial price surges

#40

Post by [deleted] »

Konnstann wrote: post #6

"On average, Lyft drivers earn over $20 per hour." I wonder if this figure takes into account all the waiting time, or just driving time on the app. If it is the latter, then that's a pretty scummy thing to say, considering that most drivers spend less than a third of the time actually driving people to their destination, putting the actual number closer to 7.00 an hour.

[deleted]
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