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Uber Starts Charging what it Thinks you are Willing to Pay

posted by cmn32480 on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:07PM   
from the I-am-willing-to-pay-$0 dept.

Fnord666 writes:

Uber drivers have been complaining that the gap between the fare a rider pays and what the driver receives is getting wider. After months of unsatisfying answers, Uber Technologies Inc. is providing an explanation: It's charging some passengers more because it needs the extra cash.

The company detailed for the first time in an interview with Bloomberg a new pricing system that's been in testing for months in certain cities. On Friday, Uber acknowledged to drivers the discrepancy between their compensation and what riders pay. The new fare system is called "route-based pricing," and it charges customers based on what it predicts they're willing to pay. It's a break from the past, when Uber calculated fares using a combination of mileage, time and multipliers based on geographic demand.

Daniel Graf, Uber's head of product, said the company applies machine-learning techniques to estimate how much groups of customers are willing to shell out for a ride. Uber calculates riders' propensity for paying a higher price for a particular route at a certain time of day. For instance, someone traveling from a wealthy neighborhood to another tony spot might be asked to pay more than another person heading to a poorer part of town, even if demand, traffic and distance are the same.

Source: Bloomberg

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Original Submission

• Re:Suuuure Re:Suuuure (Score: 4, Insightful) by IndigoFreak on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:56PM (2 children)

  by IndigoFreak (3415) on Sunday May 21 2017, @12:56PM (#512997)

  Granted, some rich are good at being cheap skates. But there are more than enough which are 'new money' that blow through their cash like it's never ending. Many athletes, Hollywood stars, musicians, famous people are completely broke once their 15 minutes of fame wears off. All those millions go somewhere. And just because someone who made the money is good at being cheap, doesn't mean their spouse or children will be. There are more than enough movies about people(based on true strories) making millions, blowing tons of money, then ending up broke. There is a market for this.
  
  Also the truely rich would have chauffeurs or million dollar cars and not even deal with the online cabs.

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• Re:Suuuure (Score: 1, Redundant) by Gaaark on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:08PM

  by Gaaark (41) on Sunday May 21 2017, @04:08PM (#513044) Journal

  Or the stupid people who win big on the lottery and a year later the money is gone and they are broke again.

  Damn, just give the money to me: i'll put it to good use.... vodka, blow and hookers. And a new linux box.
  That's all i need: vodka, blow, hookers, and a new linux box.

  And my thermos.

  That's all: vodka, blow, hookers, a new linux box and my thermos.

  Come here, shithead...

  --
  --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---

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• Re:Suuuure (Score: 2) by Nuke on Sunday May 21 2017, @07:41PM

  by Nuke (3162) on Sunday May 21 2017, @07:41PM (#513130)

  But there are more than enough which are 'new money' that blow through their cash like it's never ending. Many athletes,

  Americans may not have heard the quote by the 1970's UK soccer star George Best. When he was asked after he retired and and broke where all his money had gone, he replied "On women and booze. The rest I wasted". He died of drink.

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