# Are there surge rates for inclement weather?



## Lee239

Such as snow storms or heavy rain storms? 

I live in Florida so I'm glad not to have to drive in the snow or on ice. 

When I drove a taxi and we had big snow storms even the next day was almost impossible to get around and a 5 minute trip took half an hour and sometimes you would get stuck in the snow with those lousy rear wheel drive Town cars, plus the potential for accidents was huge. Our boss would not let us charge higher rates so it was a stressful day without making any money, plus most people stayed home anyway.


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## Certain Judgment

Uber doesn't set surges based on inclement weather, but they can happen because of it. In the early part of December here in Milwaukee we had a really bad snow storm lasting Friday and Saturday night. Surges were on average 2.0 to 3.0 throughout the entire downtown area all night.


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## Lee239

Certain Judgment said:


> Uber doesn't set surges based on inclement weather, but they can happen because of it. In the early part of December here in Milwaukee we had a really bad snow storm lasting Friday and Saturday night. Surges were on average 2.0 to 3.0 throughout the entire downtown area all night.


So does surge depend on availability or wait times or how many drivers are out?


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## Shangsta

Lee239 said:


> So does surge depend on availability or wait times or how many drivers are out?


Not to oversimplify but it's number of drivers online versus number of pax app opens.

In my area rain doesn't cause surge but snow does. All the Priuses have to sit it out so there are few drivers and lots of folks who need a ride.


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## Hokie92

Shangsta said:


> Not to oversimplify but it's number of drivers online versus number of pax app opens.
> 
> In my area rain doesn't cause surge but snow does. All the Priuses have to sit it out so there are few drivers and lots of folks who need a ride.


Seems to me weather is a factor here especially on Ord Airport. I remember a rainy Thursday night and both Lyft and Uber had surge pricing. That was months ago and both platforms change algorithms all the time.


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## entrep1776

Shangsta said:


> Not to oversimplify but it's number of drivers online versus number of pax app opens.
> 
> In my area rain doesn't cause surge but snow does. All the Priuses have to sit it out so there are few drivers and lots of folks who need a ride.


My Prius's ears are burning! it didn't sit out a single snow this winter. Although not really much surge due to weather. Probably should have just stayed home.


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## Human v2.0

Uber will cap the surges during hurricanes.


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## skitty54

Shangsta said:


> Not to oversimplify but it's number of drivers online versus number of pax app opens.
> 
> In my area rain doesn't cause surge but snow does. All the Priuses have to sit it out so there are few drivers and lots of folks who need a ride.


I have studded snows on my Prius, and it handles just fine, although I have the 2107 so it does drive better than my older 2010 model.
(And the proper plural for Prius is Prii (Pronounced Pre-I)


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## nickd8775

P


Lee239 said:


> Such as snow storms or heavy rain storms?
> 
> I live in Florida so I'm glad not to have to drive in the snow or on ice.
> 
> When I drove a taxi and we had big snow storms even the next day was almost impossible to get around and a 5 minute trip took half an hour and sometimes you would get stuck in the snow with those lousy rear wheel drive Town cars, plus the potential for accidents was huge. Our boss would not let us charge higher rates so it was a stressful day without making any money, plus most people stayed home anyway.


There are areas in your market that always surge in bad weather. Plan to be there when it's raining. 
One of the advantages Uber has vs taxis is the surge. Taxi drivers would stay home in bad weather because they earn less and have more stress. Uber surges higher than taxi rates in bad weather. That causes the full time drivers to drive more on the rainy days.


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## JuanMoreTime

So far as I can tell, Surge happens based on two factors:

1: the number of drivers in a given area would be insufficient to maintain a short (<5 minute) pick up time in the event that someone in that area decides to request a ride, regardless of actual demand. In Los Angeles, this appears to be the most common type of surge, as there are out of the way areas and areas with exceptionally high crime rates that most drivers avoid which regularly surge. If you do happen to be in those areas, 90% of the requests you receive will be from outside the surging area, and once enough drivers arrive in the surging area to meet the needs of the algorithm, the surge will disappear. Example areas: San Pedro, San Clemente and Dana Point, Compton, Inglewood, South Central Los Angeles.

2: Historically high demand or a well-publicized event. This is still tied in to their supply/demand algorithm, and doesn't always mean that you'll actually receive any ping originating from the surge area. Uber expects a high demand in that area, and in the case of an event they will cause the surge to go high in the area before the event lets out in order to increase the number of available drivers. Most of the time the surge will dissipate immediately upon the scheduled end of the event, as soon as pax actually start to request rides. Examples: Concerts at The Forum or Hollywood Bowl, the Long Beach Grand Prix, West Hollywood from midnight to 1:55am.

Tying Surge to *actual* customer demand in real time so that drivers can regularly make an actual profit isn't in Uber's apparent interest, though sometimes they make mistakes and drivers inadvertently get a request from a pax who is actually in the surging area. Travis has his assistant spank him lightly (not hard enough to actually derive any pleasure) whenever that happens.


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## tryingforthat5star

Back around Jan we had a quick snow storm hit in Philadelphia that ended on Sat night if I recall. A lack of drivers and people doing there partying worked out great on my end I had non stop requests and made sure the snow tires on the car went to use. I believe you can pick up profits during bad weather.


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