Uber, Lyft Prepare for Blizzard Pricing and Customer Meltdowns

During a brutal New England blizzard last year, Jess Seinfeld, who’s married to the multimillionaire comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Instagrammed a $415 bill from Uber with the following message: “Uber charge during a snowstorm to drop one [child] at Bar Mitzvah and one child at a sleepover. #OMG #neverforget #neveragain.”

Uber’s surge pricing, a premium charged when drivers are scarce, was about eight times the normal fare. While Seinfeld has vowed to “never again” participate in Uber’s surge storm pricing, it is likely that hundreds of other New Englanders will need rides and turn to e-hailing services.

This year, though, New York state is looking out for its travelers’ wallets. Following a claim from the New York attorney general that Uber was price-gouging customers, the company and the state reached a formula to determine state of emergency surge pricing: “For each market, the state of emergency price will be set after excluding the three highest-priced, non-emergency days of the preceding two months.”

In layman's terms, that means Uber will make a list of the highest surge prices over the last 60 days and strike the three highest days (that means New Year’s Eve, a notoriously pricey night, will not be included) to determine the company’s blizzard storm pricing.

Here’s an example of the blizzard pricing, provided in the agreement between the AG and Uber: “The three highest prices set for Uber X in New York City on different days during the sixty days preceding the [blizzard] are 4.5X, 4.5 X and 3.25X. The next highest price set on a day other than the days on which the three highest prices were set was 2.5X. The price cap [during the blizzard] would be 2.5X.”

Uber has not yet disclosed the pricing New Yorkers can expect Monday night and Tuesday, and it has not commented on pricing in other blizzard-affected states.

Its main competitor, Lyft, has capped surge pricing at 200 percent, which equates to three times the normal price—as the 200 percent is added onto the existing fare. “Demand may not even push prices that high, but the cap is there so rides during busy periods remain affordable. Our community’s safety is our top priority, and we want to make sure everyone has a safe, reliable ride home,” Lyft said in a statement about the approaching blizzard.

With Lyft, a ride from New York’s 14th Street at Union Square to 42nd Street at Times Square would usually run customers $12. If maximum surge pricing goes into effect during the storm, expect that same ride to be $36, as the cost minimum will jump to $24 from $8 and the per mile cost will be $6.45.

Connecticut and New Jersey residents shouldn’t expect to ride for less than $20, as there is usually a cost minimum of $5 plus a $1.10 per mile charge, in addition to several other fees. Bostonians have a slightly lower cost minimum at $4, but the base charge and safety fee are higher, as is the cost per mile.

Though the attorney general’s office has reached a state of emergency pricing formula with Uber, it does not have a similar plan set up with Lyft. “The attorney general's office...will be monitoring all price-gouging complaints, including those regarding all ride-sharing services, during the storm,” an AG representative told Newsweek.

Luckily, public transportation fees don’t change during big storms, but service may be faulty. Yellow cabs in New York have been instructed to drive slowly and carefully, and some drivers may not work at all considering the blizzard. “Yellow taxi drivers are some of the safest drivers on the road, so remember while you may be in a hurry to get home, your driver also wants to get home safe,” Tweeps Phillips Woods, the executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, told Newsweek. In Boston, public transportation will operate as close to normal as possible, but in Philadelphia transit will move to a weekend schedule during the blizzard.

For those truly worried about commuting, and the potential cost that comes with it, we recommend staying home and curling up with a great magazine.