Thousands of BART passengers were stranded Monday morningafter a power line fell near the West Oakland tracks and suspended Transbay Tube service. Many commuters turned to ride-sharing apps Uber or Lyft to attempt to get to work on time faced outrageous surge pricing to commute across the Bay Bridge. According to posts on social media, a ride from Oakland to downtown San Francisco was estimated to cost between $60 and $110. The surge also impacted the cheaper ride-sharing options, such as Lyft Line — we saw one estimate at $85. Many commuters took out their frustration against the ride-sharing companies online, posting screen grabs of the cost of the ride. By 10 a.m., after BART trains started moving again and the morning commute began to wind down, Uber quoted a price from Oakland 12th Street City Center to Montgomery BART of $10.11 for a pool or $20.22 for an UberX. View the slideshow above for some of the prices Uber/Lyft drivers were charging this morning during the height of the morning commute. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/BART-stoppage-causes-unbelievable-surge-prices-11030582.php
Some will use this to propose price controls be introduced, but you know what high fares in these kinds of scenarios do? They get more drivers on the road to capture those higher fares, which then provides more supply to the market, lowering prices and accommodating more passengers. Uber needs to walk a thin line between allowing the market to function and not (further) upsetting policy makers. Once policy makers start down the path to price caps, it will be a slippery slope that will ultimately cover far more than price caps. Uber has been lucky to get away with what they have so far.
On a normal morning, it has taken me 45minutes plus to cross the bay bridge into downtown SF. $60 sounds like a lot, but not outrageous.