[sceptical]

Surge pricing is not about profit for Uber. Uber wants to minimize surge pricing as it implies the market place is unbalanced. I.e. not enough drivers. Obviously with demand spikes you cannot magically produce more drivers so surge pricing does happen. But it is not a good user experience. In the ideal state drivers are busy all the time maximizing their earnings and riders can get a reliable ride.

[Firmwarrior]

Yeah, except that Uber and Lyft just keep most of the surge for themselves and obfuscate that fact from the riders and the drivers

You end up with a surly asshole driver and a surly asshole rider who both think the other is screwing them, when in fact it was the silicon valley douchebags