this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
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Lyft wants to kill surge pricing.::The number of Lyft rides that were affected by surge pricing dropped 35% from the first quarter, according to CEO David Risher.

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[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago (4 children)

As long as they can get enough drivers during peak hours it shouldn't be an issue. However, from what I underderstand, the entire point is to somewhat suppress rider demand and increase driver supply during peak hours so that anybody who actually needs a ride can get it, rather than a number of people sitting in tortuous long queues.

[–] Steve@communick.news 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I used to work at U-Haul. In a collage area. U-Haul refused to adjust prices for a couple critical weeks twice a year. So people would have to drive 90min+ to get a truck that was the wrong size.

It was great being yelled at by people all day.

[–] qfe0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Adjusting prices wouldn't have gotten you more trucks, would it? Ostensibly you'd still have just as many people that couldn't get a truck or had to travel. There was a spike in demand that wasn't being met.

[–] Steve@communick.news 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

But if people knew up front they weren't getting a truck, they could make other plans. Instead they only found out the day before their move, that they were screwed.

In the case of Lyft, what's better: Knowing you'll be able to get a ride for 2-3x the price? Or finding out while standing on the curb, your normal priced ride won't be there for an hour or two?

If there's more money to be gained that week management has a good reason to work a little harder to have all of their trucks on the road at that time, or even find another source to rent them from temporarily