The Singapore chapter of private taxi booking app Uber must have faced a torrential deluge of both new and returning customers yesterday across the island as two major train lines broke down simultaneously, stranding thousands outside MRT stations waiting for alternative transport.
Regular users of the app should also be familiar (and at times annoyed) with their surge pricing feature, where rates for the rides increase to ensure reliability when demand cannot be met by number of driver on the road. The algorithm kicks in when demand for Uber rides surpasses the supply of drivers, and charges increase to entice more Uber drivers to come on the road.
Welp, the demand yesterday evening definitely exploded. The price of a single Uber ride surged up to almost five times the standard fare — probably the highest surge rate ever seen so far. The lucky ones managed to escape with only 1.9 times the price, while the ill-fated ended up paying over $100 just for a ride back home. When was the last time you paid $124 for a taxi ride?
According to some Uber users, the company had sent out alerts to their drivers asking for more drivers to take advantage of SMRT's incapacitation to make more money taking people home from MRT stations, The New Paper reports. Uncaring perhaps, but that's business for you. We've reached out to Uber Singapore to comment, but they've yet to reply.
A change of heart (or an obtaining of one) however drove Uber to disable their surge pricing to help commuters get home without taking out a bank loan. Those who had already paid the crazy prices even got prompt personal responses on social media and support lines, so that's nice.
In light of the recent #MRTbreakdown, we've disabled surge to help commuters get home easily
— Uber Singapore (@Uber_SING) July 7, 2015
Another phenomenon also started appearing across social media yesterday amidst the MRT breakdown — the popping up of Uber invite codes. Many users saw the opportunity start referring first time customers, which would entail $20 off rides for each of the referrer and the referred.
Win-win situation for all parties really; the new customer who used the promo code gets $20 off the first ride, the user who issued the invite code gets to redeem a $20 ride voucher while Uber Singapore gets more people on their bandwagon. Smart.
Photo: @Jackyyapp via Twitter, Twitter screengrab
Done reading? Sit back, relax and watch Coconuts TV:
The Singapore chapter of private taxi booking app Uber must have faced a torrential deluge of both new and returning customers yesterday across the island as two major train lines broke down simultaneously, stranding thousands outside MRT stations waiting for alternative transport.
Regular users of the app should also be familiar (and at times annoyed) with their surge pricing feature, where rates for the rides increase to ensure reliability when demand cannot be met by number of driver on the road. The algorithm kicks in when demand for Uber rides surpasses the supply of drivers, and charges increase to entice more Uber drivers to come on the road.
Welp, the demand yesterday evening definitely exploded. The price of a single Uber ride surged up to almost five times the standard fare — probably the highest surge rate ever seen so far. The lucky ones managed to escape with only 1.9 times the price, while the ill-fated ended up paying over $100 just for a ride back home. When was the last time you paid $124 for a taxi ride?
According to some Uber users, the company had sent out alerts to their drivers asking for more drivers to take advantage of SMRT's incapacitation to make more money taking people home from MRT stations, The New Paper reports. Uncaring perhaps, but that's business for you. We've reached out to Uber Singapore to comment, but they've yet to reply.
A change of heart (or an obtaining of one) however drove Uber to disable their surge pricing to help commuters get home without taking out a bank loan. Those who had already paid the crazy prices even got prompt personal responses on social media and support lines, so that's nice.
In light of the recent #MRTbreakdown, we've disabled surge to help commuters get home easily
— Uber Singapore (@Uber_SING) July 7, 2015
Another phenomenon also started appearing across social media yesterday amidst the MRT breakdown — the popping up of Uber invite codes. Many users saw the opportunity start referring first time customers, which would entail $20 off rides for each of the referrer and the referred.
Win-win situation for all parties really; the new customer who used the promo code gets $20 off the first ride, the user who issued the invite code gets to redeem a $20 ride voucher while Uber Singapore gets more people on their bandwagon. Smart.
Photo: @Jackyyapp via Twitter, Twitter screengrab
Done reading? Sit back, relax and watch Coconuts TV: