Uber CEO Stunned When He Heard Cost of 3-Mile Uber Ride

Discussed 3 days ago:<p><i>Uber CEO stunned by $52 fare for 3-mile ride</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=37000811">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=37000811</a> (101 comments)

Last year, I traveled from DC to NY overnight, and it was 2.5x surge pricing. When i got to my destination, I stuck around in the car to see what the driver app was saying. I paid close to $900, driver took ~$250, the entire surge pricing difference went to Uber. I was thinking, that&#x27;s an crazy markup over their AWS bill but really it&#x27;s just a robbery.

But this was always the plan, wasn&#x27;t it?<p>Uber has been losing money since it started, subsiding our travel with VC money, I thought clearly always with the plan of &quot;once we get market dominance we can jack up the prices and make all that money back&quot;. I don&#x27;t think they were ever shy about this plan.<p>So now we&#x27;re at that point. Either we put up with the new prices, or move on to another app, or find another transport solution. I don&#x27;t think whining at Uber about how expensive they are now is a workable response.

I get that people don&#x27;t like it when the price of things go up.<p>But surely people can see that the Uber pricing was unsustainable? The VC money was subsidising our transport (yay) but clearly that couldn&#x27;t last.<p>So, as prictable to everyone , prices go up, drivers get less, and Uber are hoping riders will have grown so used to the convenience so as not to care.<p>Expect a flood of stories along these lines in the coming year.

The share to the driver is so small I can’t believe they get away with it (Lyft too). In SF I often see drivers accepting their next fare while I’m in the backseat. A ride that will cost me $15 might get them $6.<p>I know Uber’s part here is not trivial (it’s good software and they do support, etc) but surely the driver should be getting more like 80% or even 90% given that it’s their time, their equipment, etc. Most other marketplaces take smaller cuts.

This depends extremely heavily on the market. In my city a 4.5 mile ride is nearly always around $15 if it&#x27;s not raining.

Could someone be the CEO of McDonalds thinking a Big Mac meal in the US costs $3?<p>Big “It’s one banana, Michael, how much could it cost? $10?” Vibes.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;Nl_Qyk9DSUw" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;Nl_Qyk9DSUw</a>

There’s been times when the surge is so ridiculous me and the driver just work something out in cash and cut uber out of the deal entirely.

Probably was $20 last time he actually took an Uber. He&#x27;s likely had a driver for a long time.

is someone forcing the reporter to ride an Uber? It&#x27;s not a public good.

Thought this was going to be about how little Uber drivers were paid