# Is Surge Capped in Your City?



## cratter (Sep 16, 2017)

Noticed on NYE here, surge is now capped at 5.9x. 
Five of those in a row on NYE.
Since NYE still 5.9x.
Use to get 6-9x.
Is this a new thing everywhere? Does Uber cap surge in your city too?


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

cratter said:


> Noticed on NYE here, surge is now capped at 5.9x.
> Five of those in a row on NYE.
> Since NYE still 5.9x.
> Use to get 6-9x.
> Is this a new thing everywhere? Does Uber cap surge in your city too?


Not only can uber cap the surge, there's also an "off switch" that they can use during special events (or natural disasters or acts of terrorism)


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## cratter (Sep 16, 2017)

Guess the highest surge I got tonight...
















No one else has a surge cap? 

If I was a guessing man they'll keep lowering it...3.9x and then switch over to the "new non multiplier surge."


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## UBERPROcolorado (Jul 16, 2017)

cratter said:


> Guess the highest surge I got tonight...
> View attachment 199377
> View attachment 199378
> 
> ...


In Denver the new Boost is being tested. No MULTIPLIER. Flat rate between $3 & $13 for every 3 trips completed, within the boost time limits. In Denver boost has been reduced to a few times a day. 2 hour durations. Paying $5 -$6.50 per 3 qualified trips.

The rules.

Must be 3 consecutive trips. You must take all trips in the sequence or no boost. Can't pass a trip. Can't cancel a trip. Can't log off the app during The sequence.

UBER is looking to convert SURGE to a similar flat rate plan. Not sure when or any details.

Saturday was the worst since I started a year plus ago. Earnings cut by few hundred for the night.


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

UBERPROcolorado said:


> In Denver the new Boost is being tested. No MULTIPLIER. Flat rate between $3 & $13 for every 3 trips completed, within the boost time limits. In Denver boost has been reduced to a few times a day. 2 hour durations. Paying $5 -$6.50 per 3 qualified trips.
> 
> The rules.
> 
> ...


Sounds like what they've been doing in Charlotte. Sorry to hear this is happening to you guys too.

Sounds like it will lead to cherrypicking short rides


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## negeorgia (Feb 1, 2015)

Yes, my market has had surge caps from Spring to Halloween for the last 2 years. Usually a 3.9 cap but one recent football weekend they picked 2.9 as the cap. I made more $ with Lyft that weekend. Surge cap is yet another driver pay cut.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Yes surges are capped.

Uber caps the driver's surge a LOT here at zero. When Lyft surges for an extended time and Uber is completely base, you know there's something held back.

Lyft does it as well. During our last ice storm I was catching 200-450% Lyft surges for 7 hours straight, EXCEPT from the airport. I was getting pinged from a half hour away to do airport pickup at base prices, over and over. They simply refused to let true supply and demand dictate driver pay.


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## heynow321 (Sep 3, 2015)

you're a fool if you're still working rush hours or large events at base rates. stop doing that shit and surge might come back.


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## Dredrummond (Jun 17, 2016)

Detroit is for sure capped downtown


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## UBERPROcolorado (Jul 16, 2017)

THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL/DASH BOARD:

When Dara came on board, he quickly realized that the numbers do not add up. He quickly realized that Uber, as it is now, is not viable. Dara had to act and act quickly. 

Dara determined that increasing market share and decreasing driver pay would solve a big part of the financial problem. 

When Softbank was balking on the next few billion and valuing Uber closer to 20 billion, down from 60 billion......Dara knew he had to immediately bolster cash flow and push for an even greater market share. (The same plan he used at Expedia & it worked)

STEP 1....Dara cut boost, surge and rider prices in an attempt to gain market share. Then he substantially reduced the rates paid to drivers. The savings will help offset the rider incentives and reduction in Uber's revenue from boost and surge.

STEP 2....Dara anticipated that seasoned drivers and drivers that could do the math, would have a melt down. Dara said it some months ago... "Uber is going to need 10,000 new drivers in 2018".

Why more drivers? Because seasoned and smart drivers may feel that they cannot make a profit anymore and quit!

So Dara flood the media with expensive help wanted ads. Pushing for the part time driver. Flooding the streets with clueless and untrained part timers that will be happy to make a $100 a week for spending money. 

STEP 3...Then Dara relaxed thier vetting process....or at least it appears that way. All of a sudden Denver is flooded with drivers that cannot speak English, drive dilapidated vehicles that are falling apart and drivers that cannot use the app or nav. (as represented by many of my riders and they are very vocal about it)

Colorado nailed Uber a few months ago over drivers with criminal backgrounds, false identities, no licences, etc. Basically, putting as many drivers on the road as possible. Based on the findings of the state of Colorado, Uber is putting riders and other drivers on the road, at risk. 

Dara is following a game plan that is risky but most likely will succeed ...for Uber and the riders anyway. The end game is a complete transition from full time professional drivers to weekend warriors. By flooding the streets with part timers, Uber can keep and grow market share, bolster cash flow, buy the time they need to get their autonomous cars on the road and always have plenty of worker ants on the road. 

Does this mean that it is time for the seasoned & professional drivers to bail? Not necessarily. It has taken our group only a week to figure out when and where to drive. The new boost program has real benefits, if you drive it right. We have reduced miles and time on the street, but maintained about the same net. 

Drive safe & drive smart


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

UBERPROcolorado said:


> THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL/DASH BOARD:
> 
> When Dara came on board, he quickly realized that the numbers do not add up. He quickly realized that Uber, as it is now, is not viable. Dara had to act and act quickly.
> 
> ...


I like your analysis. I am guessing that most of it hits the mark perfectly!

Dara will quietly keep increasing margins, whether by cutting pay or cutting useless promos or by increasing upfront cuts and surge cuts. He will have a greater public presence, letting the world know how Uber now suddenly cares about drivers (sign up now! new and improved!). Meanwhile it is business as usual, just trying to stem the flow of blood.


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## heynow321 (Sep 3, 2015)

UBERPROcolorado said:


> STEP 3...Then Dara relaxed thier vetting process....or at least it appears that way. All of a sudden Denver is flooded with drivers that cannot speak English, drive dilapidated vehicles that are falling apart and drivers that cannot use the app or nav. (as represented by many of my riders and they are very vocal about it)
> 
> t


I wasted about 1.5 hours at our local hub and jesus christ I couldn't believe some of the cars I was seeing. Mismatched paint, scratches and dings, giant pieces of paint chipped off, cracks in the bumper or side skirts, etc.

boober is truly scraping the bottom of the barrel now. It was fun watching which ant walked back to their busted ass prius's. the people weren't much better than the cars....


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## hulksmash (Apr 26, 2016)

I always anticipated Dara would be a batter businessman than Travis, but like others I was hopeful that it would be better for the drivers, which it looks like it won’t be. Many assumed that Dara would bring Uber to profitability by raising rates, both for drivers and riders. But instead he’s just better at executing Travis vision, which is go have a bunch of drivers driving for base all day long with little or no surge or boost, and the surge at events and bar close being greatly minimized. 

Some of Uber’s mistakes under the old regime actually benefited drivers. Like going too far with price cuts to the point that many drivers quit and left good surge for those who remained, then trying to mitigate it with hourly guarantees that were easy to game. Or not having boost and quests in the early days, allowing drivers to manipulate surge more easily by logging on and off. When I started Uber still had block surge zones that would go from yellow to orange to red, which made it easy to predict when surge was about to happen. The surge used to be more predictable in as far as how high it would go at certain times so drivers would take advantage and stay logged off to force it higher. 

Now they are making smarter business decisions and they’re not benefiting the drivers.


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## UBERPROcolorado (Jul 16, 2017)

Mista T said:


> I like your analysis. I am guessing that most of it hits the mark perfectly!
> 
> Dara will quietly keep increasing margins, whether by cutting pay or cutting useless promos or by increasing upfront cuts and surge cuts. He will have a greater public presence, letting the world know how Uber now suddenly cares about drivers (sign up now! new and improved!). Meanwhile it is business as usual, just trying to stem the flow of blood.


Thank you.


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## cratter (Sep 16, 2017)

When I started this thread surge was capped at 5.9x in my city. One year later it's now capped at 1.9x. 

12,000 people right now getting out of a concert. Nobody is working trying to get through that traffic for an extra $2-$4. I just ignored 9 pings all back to back. Sucks as a passenger at these times of which I am also. 

Big mistake on ubers part.


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