Metro Vancouver bus strike: Uber and Lyft see surge in demand and prices

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Metro Vancouver’s ride-hailing services were overwhelmed Monday and prices soared as commuters struggled to get to work and school with buses grounded by the transit strike.

Uber and Lyft prices were often triple or quadruple what a ride would cost on a typical day, a phenomenon known as surge pricing.

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But a spokesperson said Monday morning that Uber has limited price increases and is offering drivers incentives to complete more trips during the strike.

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Uber’s Keerthana Rang said there were 70 percent more active drivers between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. compared to the same time last week, but noted that “it’s unreasonable to expect Uber to fill the huge void left by a transport strike”.

Rang encouraged riders to try the group ride feature, share a ride with a friend, or use the UberX Share feature, which allows Uber to try to match another rider to share their ride.

But Rang acknowledged that rising prices test the affordability of ride-sharing in situations like this.

“Just as consumers pay higher utility rates during peak hours of the day or pay more for a hotel room when a large convention is in town, the total price of riding with Uber flexes to respond to demand. supply and demand,” Rang said in a statement. .

When supply cannot meet user demand, ride prices will increase and app users will see a message indicating this. The system is designed to move drivers to areas of higher demand, thus returning balance to supply.

“I love ridesharing. “It’s a valuable part of the ecosystem,” Vancouver County said. Sarah Kirby-Yung at X, who called the price increase “not looking good.”

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Yung said it seemed like a “spanish” on the part of Uber and Lyft during the bus strike.

Around 8 a.m., for example, an Uber from Main and 16th Avenue to the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station (normally accessible by bus for $3.15 with a connection) was just under $30.

An Uber from the same intersection to the University of BC’s Point Gray campus, which is not served by SkyTrain, was $50 for a rideshare and $56 to have the vehicle to yourself. That’s a significant jump from the typical rate of $15 to $20.

Yellow Cabs president Kulwant Sahota, who was picking up passengers on Monday, said it had been busy but there was a full fleet on the road and most drivers were picking up passengers within three minutes from noon.

Sahota said that in conversations with regulators, the taxi industry expressly said it did not want to engage in price increases.

As he noted, many of those who use taxis are older people, people with disabilities or people with limited incomes. He said the last thing drivers want is to make trips more expensive when demand is high.

He also said Yellow Cabs has a ride-hailing style app where passengers can book their ride and even get a discount for a prepaid ride, regardless of how busy it is.

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Facebook posts emerged overnight as people searched for rideshares, while some with extra space in their vehicles offered rides.

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