$100 rides to escape mass shooting: Seattle leader grills Uber, Lyft on surge pricing
A Seattle leader is questioning ride-sharing companies after reports that passengers faced surge pricing — with rides costing $100 or more — to escape a mass shooting last week.
City Councilmember Alex Pedersen, who chairs the Transportation Committee, said in a statement Monday that he asked Uber and Lyft about the allegations in a letter. Pedersen cited a story on “disturbing reports of extraneous ‘surge’ pricing” that ran in the Seattle Times.
“I am concerned about the safety of our residents in times of crisis, and this issue, if true, is especially problematic as this is an equity issue,” Pedersen said. “You should not have to be wealthy to escape violence during a crisis, so I look forward to hearing from these ride share companies to learn about what might have gone wrong last week, and what could be done to remedy the situation.”
After a shooting created chaos in downtown Seattle during rush hour on Jan. 23 — killing one, injuring several more and sparking a manhunt — commuters trying to escape the crime scene took to Twitter to express outrage and stress over prices as high as $122 and $103 to reach other neighborhoods, KIRO reported.
Uber describes surge pricing on its website as “a relief valve for the ridesharing 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.”
Both ride-sharing companies said they planned to reimburse riders who were charged surge pricing, MyNorthwest reports.
“The shooting in Seattle is tragic, and our thoughts are with the victims and their families,” a spokesperson for Lyft said in a statement cited by KIRO. “When we learned what happened, we implemented a cap on prime-time pricing, which is automatically enabled during periods of high demand. We plan to reimburse or credit users in the surrounding area who were affected by this increased pricing.”
Uber explains on its website that “surge pricing is automatically activated by algorithms that detect shifts in rider demand and driver availability, in real time, all over a city.”
The company added that “when circumstances warrant it — such as in major emergencies that impact public safety — our teams assess the situation and cap surge pricing in the area.”
Both companies eventually removed surge pricing in the shooting aftermath, the Times reported.
Still, Pedersen wants answers from the companies.
“Have you been able to track and refund charges to anyone charged more than ‘1x’ during the crisis period in downtown Seattle on January 23, 2020?” he asked in the letter.
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 3:54 PM with the headline "$100 rides to escape mass shooting: Seattle leader grills Uber, Lyft on surge pricing."
