Skip to footer

Why Uber jacked up prices during Sydney hostage crisis

Uber, the taxi app service, is criticized for hiking prices in Sydney's central business district, where people are trying to evacuate as a gunman holds hostages in a cafe.

|
Bastien Inzaurralde/AP
UberPOP driver Anthony Loussala-Dubreas, 24, of Paris, turns on his smartphone in his car in Paris, Friday, Dec. 12, 2014. A French court on Friday ordered Uber to withdraw from its mobile app to French users "all mention suggesting it is legal" for Uber's drivers to act like taxis — that is, driving around and waiting for clients. But the court did not ban the popular ride-hailing service.

The latest in an onslaught of worldwide criticism of taxi-booking service Uber comes amid the hostage crisis in Sydney.

A surge in fares in the city's central business district – up to four times normal rates, according to the BBC – is being called out as tasteless at time of desperation there.

One customer told Mashable.com he'd been quoted A$145-185 (US$119 - $152) for a journey from Sydney's CBD to the airport - a 13-mile journey that would normally cost about A$40-70 (US$33-$58) depending on the time of day.

The app operates on an algorithm that changes prices based on demand for the service in an area. Police have sealed off the swath of city blocks surrounding the Lindt cafe in Sydney where at least one gunman is holding about a dozen employees and customers, and ordered the public away from the scene. Uber's algorithm responded to the rise in demand as designed and prices soared.

But the company said it is now ferrying people out of the city for free, and explained the surge in prices in a blogpost Sunday.

"We are all concerned with the events happening in Sydney," the company said. "Uber Sydney will be providing free rides out of the CBD to help Sydneysiders get home safely."

The cab service explained it was using surge pricing to encourage more drivers into the area.

The company also said it was in the process of refunding anyone who had been charged during the hours of the siege.

Uber put out messages Sunday and Monday on its Twitter account to explain the pricing and publicize the free ride service.

The bout of criticism comes amid a slew of stories casting a negative light on the quickly expanding taxi app service.

Taxi drivers in France are protesting the firm by blocking roads around Paris and at airports, the BBC reported, a demonstration following the interior ministry's decision to ban the company's car-pooling service, UberPop. Taxi protests in other cities have local governments banning, legislating, and endorsing Uber.

Last week, accusations that an Uber driver raped a woman in New Delhi led the service to suspend operation there and raised anew questions about the company's driver screening process.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Why Uber jacked up prices during Sydney hostage crisis
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2014/1215/Why-Uber-jacked-up-prices-during-Sydney-hostage-crisis
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe