Marketplace®
Every story is an economic story

An Uber expensive ride

Uber upset riders with a spike in service costs during a high-demand weekend.

Riders who used the popular car ride company, Uber, saw a spike in the prices last weekend.

But, this wasn’t just a few extra bucks per block. In some areas, the cost was up to seven times the regular price. Uber and other companies say this surge in pricing was because of inclimate weather, specifically on the East Coast, leading to a higher demand for the service.

“I think it makes very good, presitine, economic, logical sense,” says Harvard Business Professor Nancy Koehn, “but a minimum ride costs $175 in New York last weekend.”

Koehn says consumers have seen prices flucuate when something is in high-demand, but generally the public has more power in determining that price.

“Here, Uber has all the power,” says Koehn, “…I think that’s where the insult to fairness and where the upset about flucuation comes.”

Related Topics

Latest Episodes

View All Shows
  • Marketplace
    4 hours ago
    25:22
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    12 hours ago
    7:09
  • Million Bazillion
    17 hours ago
    30:57
  • Marketplace Tech
    17 hours ago
    12:45
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    6 days ago
    28:44
  • Make Me Smart
    4 months ago
    24:33