Services

Uber Lowers US Prices to Encourage Winter Demand

Paul Ausick

Published: January 10, 2016 9:29 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:13 pm

In a Friday press release, ride-sharing service Uber said that it would reduce prices beginning Saturday in more than 100 cities in the United States and Canada. The company noted that this is the third consecutive year it has cut prices in the winter months in an effort to increase demand for rides during the cold and snowy winter months.

In a rather breathless declaration that could have been issued had Uber discovered fire, the company said:

… [W]e’ve learned that the single most effective way to boost demand during the winter slump is to cut prices for riders. … Higher demand means more time moving people, less time spent waiting around and more money for drivers. And if drivers aren’t busier, prices will go back up again.

Prometheus returned, with a velvet glove on a mailed fist.

Uber noted that it is guaranteeing earnings for drivers so that none will be disadvantaged.

According to reports, price cuts will range from 10% to 60%, and Bloomberg reported price cuts of 10% in Los Angeles and San Francisco, 20% in Houston and 15% in Richmond, Va. None is exactly known for extremely wintry weather with temps below zero and piles of snow.

Prices in wintrier cities like New York and Chicago are not scheduled to be cut. Could it be that business is not exactly booming?