Source; The New York Times
Latest reports suggest that ride sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft removed their surged prices in the Sunset Park area. This was at a spot in Brooklyn where a shooting took place in a subway station on Tuesday, April 12. After the shooting, riders noticed immensely hiked fares of rides caused by the algorithms of the ride-hailing companies.
The shooting reportedly took place in the 36th street subway station carried out by an identified man wearing a gas mask, who is still at large. The consequences of this tragic shooting include 10 getting shot and 16 injured during the scene. Moreover, the police and armed personnel discovered several undetonated devices inside the Brooklyn station. New York City emergency alerts advised the residents of the city to avoid the area near which the incident took place. Clearly, this is what led to the spike in rate for rides around the city, especially in that locality.
Surge in cab fares is normally a result of an algorithm that multiplies prices at the time when rider demand is more than driver supply. Such an instance occurred when residents of the locality could not avail the subway and had to rely on these cabs to get to places. The immense demand led to surprisingly surged prices of rides when riders looked for a conveyance for mobilisation. This gave rise to immense criticisms and shaming of the ride sharing giants by concerned citizens on Twitter.
There were many Tweets regarding this issue:
@Uber turn off surges in sunset park. People are scared, let them get out safely pic.twitter.com/e31KIPE3ND
— Shannon McDonagh (@shananigans022) April 12, 2022
As Uber disabled the surge pricing near Sunset Park owing to the gravity of the situation, they also relatively reduced the pricing all over the city. Uber spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein stated that the company hopes to maintain being a resource to residents of New York wanting to get around the city. She added that whoever experienced these hiked charges, would get a refund from the company. Similarly, Lyft spokeswoman stated that the company is also working to regulate prices for some riders who paid the unintended “prime time” fares when the incident initially occurred.
Uber is known to have a global security centre that functions all day, and seven days a week. Moreover, it flags problems that could effect business and customers. At the time of a serious emergency occurrences, the giant’s policy calls for instant capping of trip prices in the area affected by the emergency. Customers of their services have the liberty to report any problems they face through the app.