The CEO Of Uber Was Downright Stunned To Find Out That A Three Mile Ride In New York City Costs A Whopping $52
Source - Uber’s loathed surge pricing left even its own CEO with sticker shock. A journalist who took an Uber from downtown Manhattan to interview the company’s boss Dara Khosrowshahi on the West Side paid $51.69, including the driver’s tip, for the 2.95-mile trip.
“Oh my God. Wow,” Khosrowshahi exclaimed when he was shown the eye-popping fare by Wired editor-at-large of Steven Levy, who revealed their conversation Tuesday.
In his sitdown with Khosrowshahi — which happened in May at Uber’s annual product event Go-Get — Levy asked the executive to guess the cost of the trip.
“Twenty bucks,” ventured Khosrowshahi, whose company announced it turned its first-ever operating profit when it released second-quarter earnings Tuesday. Levy informed the ride-share boss how far off he was and told him: “Five minutes earlier, the price was $20 higher.”
Khosrowshahi attributed the head-scratching fee to “surge pricing,” according to Levy.
Welcome to the big city, Dara! Hope you enjoy your stay - a bagel is thirteen bucks, it's seven-fifty for a banana, and if you want to Uber yourself out of this hellscape it'll cost you twenty-five thousand dollars. God I would've loved to see the look on his face during that interview. And I'm not one of these people who complains about how expensive New York City is, but Ubers have gotten out of control. The drivers care more about "the experience" than getting you to your destination.
You can't even get a yellow cab anymore either because the Uber's have driven them out of town. (Athankyou). If you are lucky enough to get a cab you realize just how good we used to have it. Back when you'd get into a car and the driver would take off before the door was even shut. They knew exactly where they were going and they would blow a red light trying to get you there. There weren't ratings or reviews. Getting from point A to point B was a business transaction, not a social experience with aux cords and boxes of tissues and lukewarm water bottles that no one has ever drank. God I sound like an old man but it's true..Ubers are a fucking RIP in the city. Moving on...
After the initial sticker shock wore off, here's what Dara had to say about the pricing...
“Everything is more expensive,” Khosrowshahi said bluntly, citing that the effects of inflation have caused rates to go up along with the cost of time and labor.
Which is interesting considering Uber prices in the US have increased at four times the inflation rate from 2018 to 2022. They also rose a total of 83% in those four years. Eighty-three percent! The entire interview was an excuse fest. He blames the pandemic, a shortage of drivers, congestion in the city, blah, blah, blah..but it's really just a monopoly. Uber charges that much because they can. Whatever. You know things are bad when the richest people in your company leave the city because it's too expensive.
Regardless, if you're in New York and need to get somewhere, just take the subway. It's the cheapest AND fastest way to get around. That and your conductor won't try and strike up a conversation with you. That's it for this one. Thanks for reading.