If it rained every day like how it did this morning, public transportation will be filled to the brim with workers on the way to work. Peak hour will be hell (more than it is already), and taxis will be even harder to come by either.
Thank god there’s Uber right? Well, not when there’s a surge going on around your pickup area.
You know, those dreaded multiplications that almost always don’t tell you the actual figure you’ll need to fork out at the end of your ride.
http://t.co/7zV1Wr7zRl So am I sway or what? #uber #SMRTbreakdown #SMRT @Uber_SING pic.twitter.com/AnxUgnReSA
— Magdelene (@magmagx) July 9, 2015
If the major MRT breakdowns back in July last year were any indication, surge pricing can lead to devastating effects to the masses almost immediately, especially in Singapore where the population is dense with Uber users.
https://twitter.com/Uber_SING/status/618409270116089856
Though to be fair to Uber, they were quick to quell the situation by suspending the surge, and making necessary refunds to those who were affected before their official announcement.
Uber Moves Away From Surge
“Upfront fares: no math and no surprises.” The intention is clear on this one.
Today, in a move to provide more transparency for fares during peak periods, Uber has announced that they will do away with the guesstimate multiplications in their surge pop-ups and replace them with upfront fares, set to be released globally ‘in the next few months’, as Techcrunch found out.
The upfront fares feature has been so far rolled out in selected cities in the United States and India since April, and more cities are set to follow.
How the upfront fare works is based on a calculated sum of factors – expected traveling times, distance of the trip, local traffic conditions, and how many riders and drivers nearby at any given moment.
Now instead of the lightning bolts that send shudders down the spine of your wallet, users will simply be shown the actual fare before they confirm a ride.
“There’s no complicated math and no surprises: passengers can just sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Now you will get to know exactly how much you need to pay, and getting heart attacks every time your Uber bill comes in will be a thing of the past.
