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Don’t worry, Uber fans. The new-age taxi company has heard your complaints.
It knows you don’t like surge pricing, so it’s experimenting with getting rid of it. Hooray, right?
Well, maybe you shouldn’t get too excited. It turns out Uber isn’t exactly eliminating the premium you have to pay for taking a ride at certain times and in certain places. Instead, the company has decided to just hide the fact, to make it less transparent that you are in effect paying a surge price.
The company has moved away from identifying surge pricing to users with its UberPool service, Quartz reported. That service attempts to create ad hoc carpools of Uber users heading in similar directions at the same time. Instead of showing Pool users the lightning bolt symbol that indicates when surge pricing is in effect or notifying them that they are paying some multiple of Uber’s regular rates, the company just gives them a simple price quote.
But by testing the service multiple times during the day, Quartz was able to show that Pool prices weren’t fixed, that the company’s surge pricing was still basically in effect, it just wasn’t alerting users to the fact.
Josh Mohrer, general manager of Uber’s New York operations, confirmed to Quartz that prices for UberPool do fluctuate depending on demand, but the company isn’t showing users how much extra they’re paying during peak periods.
“So is that ‘surge pricing?’ Yes and no,” Mohrer told Quartz.
Umm, let me answer that for you, Josh — Yes, it is!
Uber appears to be testing a similar idea with its regular private hired car service too, Quartz reported. If customers try to use Uber in Chicago, Uber’s app doesn’t tell them whether surge pricing is in place. Instead, it just flashes users a simple price quote.
While Uber is making its pricing less transparent for users, it isn’t similarly hobbling drivers, Quartz reported. They can still see in their version of the app when and where surge pricing is in place and the amount of the premium customers are paying.
Interestingly, Quartz’s report puts a positive spin on Uber’s moves. The reason people don’t like surge pricing, the Quartz report seems to imply, is not because they feel like they’re being gouged by the company when they most need a ride, or that Uber appears to be taking advantage of their desperation. No, no, nothing like that. The real problem is just that users are aware of the fact that surge pricing is in place. Take away that knowledge, and — bingo! — customers are much happier.
http://goo.gl/4HepuM
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UBERK SAN DIEGO
An Uber driver accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger earlier this year will face additional charges, including an accusation that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl.
John Sanchez, 53, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon, and 10News learned he is suspected in five other sexual assault cases.
In late February, a woman told police that an Uber driver, later identified as Sanchez, sexually assaulted her while she was on a first date. Following the reported incident, Uber immediately suspended Sanchez and barred him from driving for the company.
After an investigation, Sanchez was arrested in March on suspicion of sexual assault.
Authorities told 10News that Sanchez now faces an additional five counts of rape of an unconscious person, charges of giving drugs to a minor and accusations that he told a victim or witness not to go to authorities.
According to authorities, all of the alleged attacks happened in the city of San Diego. However, investigators believe only the most recent alleged attack happened while Sanchez drove for Uber.
An Uber spokesperson told 10News the company did a standard criminal background check on Sanchez prior to hiring him. The spokesperson added that the company would not change their protocol in light of the new allegations against Sanchez.
"Uber takes safety incidents like this very seriously, and our thoughts are with the victim and her family. Uber immediately removed this driver-partner from the platform following our initial contact with the El Cajon Police Department. We have been working closely with law enforcement to assist their investigation," the Uber spokesperson said.
http://goo.gl/hZOmoT
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RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL has agreed to increase taxi numbers to meet unmet public demand.An additional 21 taxi licences will be granted in addition to the current total of 214 licensed taxis.
The decision was made at a meeting of the council’s regulatory Functions Board (on Thursday May 26).
The change is the key response to a wide-ranging survey commissioned by Renfrewshire Council into taxi demand which highlighted the issue of journeys from Paisley town centre on weekends after midnight.
The independent survey concluded ‘that there is significant unmet demand for taxis in Renfrewshire.’
In addition to public surveys and consultation with the taxi trade and local business, the councillors also considered the public benefit of increasing the number of taxis.
The analysis found that, while there were generally sufficient taxis available to cater for demand, there was a shortfall of taxis on Friday and Saturday nights in Paisley.
Councillor John Hood, Convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Regulatory Functions Policy Board, said: “The independent consultation obtained a wide range of evidence on how best to meet taxi demand and address the persistent problems at weekends.
“Our decision-making process has benefited from detailed, up to the minute independent research.
“The Board fully considered all the evidence and we decided that an increase of 21 taxis would be the best way of improving service.
“I believe councillors have taken forward a balanced, proportionate and effective response to resolve the persistent issue of unmet demand and we will continue to monitor the outcome of the changes.”
It is likely that the first of the additional licences could be awarded at the June meeting of Renfrewshire Council’s Regulatory Functions Board.
As part of the proposals to improve taxi service, the board will also investigate and consult on the setting up of an expanded taxi rank in the town’s New Street.
Both the taxi trade and the police feel this would be better placed to serve Paisley’s night time economy.
http://goo.gl/o1tH4d
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