(credit: Uber)
The nation's second-largest rapid transit system is shut down today, and ride-hailing service Uber has assured users it will cap its "surge" pricing at 3.9x.
The Uber app automatically imposes surge pricing based on the ratio of riders to drivers, but that algorithm gets very controversial during times of extreme stress. When residents of downtown Sydney were fleeing a hostage situation in 2014, a 4x surge turned into a storm of criticism. (Uber quickly refunded those high-priced rides and began offering free rides in the city.)
In early 2015, Uber adopted a policy of limiting surges during natural disasters and other emergencies. However, a Metro outage in DC in May caused spikes in prices again, since Uber didn't consider that event an emergency. This time, it will impose the surge cap.
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