Uber & Lyft: We Tried To Get More Drivers On Road After Major Morning Commute Price Surge

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 15, 2017 6:35PM

Getty Images / Photo: David Ramos

Uber and Lyft each attempted to get more drivers on the road to assist with the flood of demand on Tuesday morning, the rideshare companies both said. Commuters said on social media that surge pricing for both apps had skyrocketed after CTA Red, Brown and Purple Line service was halted for several hours when a man was found dead on the tracks at the Fullerton station.

Ride costs surged up to almost $100 for a downtown route, riders said, according to NBC Chicago. Some trips of just two miles were reportedly priced at $20.

After the "severe disruption," as the CTA called it, Uber and Lyft both said they made attempts to get more drivers in the streets. An Uber spokesperson told Chicagoist via email: “As soon as we found out about the tragic incident this morning, our team worked to diligently monitor the situation and get more drivers on the road to help ensure riders could get from A to B."

If you did pony up for an Uber, you might want to contact their customer service folks for questions about the fare. "We are encouraging riders that have specific questions about their trip fare to reach out to our support team directly so they can take a closer look," the Uber statement added.

A Lyft spokesperson told Chicagoist that the company offered "monetary incentives" to drivers in an effort to boost the active fleet, but the crowd of commuters was so large that surge pricing hit nevertheless. The spokesperson said in a statement:

"We saw an incredible surge in those looking for rides this morning which vastly outpaced the number of drivers on the road. We did everything we could to increase the supply of drivers, communicating about the incident and providing monetary incentives to get them to the area. Still, demand outpaced supply and prime time pricing did occur. This pricing occurs in order to quickly get more drivers to high-demand areas. We generally plan ahead to help ensure there is an adequate supply of drivers on the road. This morning's incident presented a unique challenge because it was unexpected, immediate, and occurred during prime commuting hours."

The Cab Drivers union, AFSCME Local 2500, blasted the city's regulations for allowing what it called "price gouging." "Dozens upon dozens of cabs" would have been available were it not for the city's system, the union said:

“Today’s closure of the CTA during the morning commute, and subsequent surge pricing provided yet another example of the consequences of the city’s two-tiered regulatory system governing for-hire transportation in Chicago.

Before the city created a secondary set of rules for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, on a morning like today, dozens upon dozens of cabs would have lined up, ready to take passengers safely and quickly to their destination for the same rate a customer would expect to pay tomorrow and next week."