neexis wrote:What kinda fares you all expect to pay... or willing to pay for a service like this?
Any idea what is the typical fare and how it is determined, eg. Central to airport run?
Pricing and payments[edit]
An Uber ride in Bogotá, Colombia. Visible on the dashboard is a phone running the Uber app.
Uber's pricing is similar to that of metered taxis, although all hiring and payment is handled exclusively through the Uber app and not with the driver personally. In some cities, if the Uber car is travelling at a speed greater than 11 mph (18 km/h), the price is calculated on a distance basis; otherwise, the price is calculated on a time basis. At the end of a ride, the complete fare is automatically billed to the customer's credit card. Uber has said its prices are the premium that the customers pay for a cab service that is not only reliable, but also punctual and comfortable. In April 2016 Uber began allowing drivers to place signs in their windows stating that they can accept tips.
In May 2015, Uber started testing cash payments in India. The pilot project was started in the Indian city of Hyderabad. In September 2015, Uber tied up with Airtel India to allow cab users to pay using Airtel mobile wallet service. It also allows users to use Airtel 4G data at no charges.
Surge Pricing
Uber uses an automated algorithm to increase prices to "surge" price levels, responding rapidly to changes of supply and demand in the market, and to attract more drivers during times of increased rider demand, but also to reduce demand. Customers receive notice when making an Uber reservation that prices have increased.[57] The company applied for a U.S. patent on surge pricing in 2013, but it was rejected for being obvious.
The practice has often caused passengers to become upset and invited criticism when it has happened as a result of holidays, inclement weather, or natural disasters. During New Year's Eve 2011, prices were as high as seven times normal rates, causing outrage. During the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, Uber implemented surge pricing, resulting in fares of up to four times normal charges; while it defended the surge pricing at first, it later apologized and refunded the surcharges. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has responded to criticism by saying: "...because this is so new, it's going to take some time for folks to accept it. There's 70 years of conditioning around the fixed price of taxis." Uber released a post detailing why surge pricing is in place and how it works. They emphasized that without surge pricing, Uber would not have its trademark service of pushing a button and getting a ride in minutes. This is detailed in a case study around a sold-out-concert at Madison Square Garden when surge pricing took effect. During this event, the number of people who opened the app increased 4x, but the actual ride requests only rose slightly, enabling ride requests to be completed with the usual ETAs.
Surge pricing makes supply and demand match so efficiently that the waiting time is almost always below five minutes, regardless of the circumstances. Surge pricing increases economic efficiency in two ways: 1. rising prices motivate more drivers to start driving, 2. when there are not enough drivers for everyone, the rising prices make only those customers accept a ride whose needs are highest. When a surge in demand in the New Year's Eve did not raise prices, due to a fault in technology, fewer drivers chose to start driving and fewer customers chose alternative transportation methods. Therefore, waiting times became long and just a few lucky customers got a car, most were left without. In terms of efficiency the situation was a failure. Many airline and hotel companies also price dynamically although this is often not clear, whereas Uber makes its pricing transparent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_(company)#Finances