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by dheera 417 days ago
I remember the days when Uber prices from SF to anywhere on the peninsula would suddenly spike exactly a minute or two after each Caltrain departed. If you just missed the train you paid a lot more.

And then the many times that Lyft violated the triangle inequality in pricing: Ride from A->B followed by a ride from B->C was often cheaper than a direct ride from A->C, if you knew how to pick B correctly. I once confused the hell out of a driver when I got out and got back in the same car at some nondescript spot.
1 comments
lurk2 417 days ago
> If you just missed the train you paid a lot more.

That doesn’t strike me as malicious. If you just missed the train, other users probably did, too.

How did you find the price differentials with Lyft?

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dheera 417 days ago
> That doesn’t strike me as malicious. If you just missed the train, other users probably did, too.

You may not have started with malicious intent but you may have unintentionally created a malicious algorithm that learned to squeeze profits off of lower income people who normally take the train to save money but just missed it.

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lurk2 417 days ago
When the train leaves, some people miss it. They then use the app to hail a ride. The increased demand leads to a corresponding increase in price. This is how surge pricing works. What you seem to be suggesting is that this is inherently predatory, but it seems more likely that it’s just the result of a large number of people requesting rides at the same time.
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dheera 417 days ago
What I am suggesting is that whether or not the people are predatory, they created a system that is mathematically predatory.

In the pre-Uber world taxis would line up, the fare wouldn't be any different whether or not it is just after a train left, and more drivers would just know that there is higher demand at that location at certain times, without fare surges.

I do love being able to hail rides with a phone app, but I detest this fluctuating pricing.

It reminds me of why I like train travel in other countries but not so much in the US: In almost all of Europe and Asia, train tickets are fixed price based largely on distance travelled and class of train. In the US, Amtrak plays the idiot capitalist game of predatory money grabbing you if you need to make last minute emergency travel plans or changes.

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