Re:Uber drivers gang up to cause surge pricing, research says
by emodendroket on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @04:24PM
(#14914249)
When he says the price isn't sustainable I think what he means is that investor money has kept Uber fares below costs, which is not sustainable.
Re:Uber drivers gang up to cause surge pricing, research says
by criddell on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @04:53PM
(#14914540)
I wonder if getting rid of the drivers would be enough to make Uber profitable? It would at least fix the gaming of surge prices.
Re:Uber drivers gang up to cause surge pricing, research says
by emodendroket on Wednesday August 02, 2017 @08:51PM
(#14916071)
That is what they're betting the farm on; the bigger question is whether they'll be able to pull that off (and pull it off fast enough).
Uber coming along has been a good reset for the regulations. There were a lot of ineffective and counterproductive regulations in place and I think wiping them out and starting over is a good thing.
Sarasota, FL is an interesting case to study. The traditional taxi companies complained about Uber in the city and rather than fight Uber, the city removed the regulations on taxi companies. So far, I don't think much has really changed.
As for the gaming of surge pricing, I think that's fixable. Uber just needs to think more carefully about driver incentives.