Uber and Lyft are in the hot seat as riders in NYC were hit with increased fairs after the port authority bus terminal bombing.
The blast forced the immediate shut down of the Times Square Subway station giving scared New Yorkers few options to flee the area. Many turned to the popular ride-hailing apps which caused "surge pricing" to go into effect. This more than doubled normal fair rates making it look like these companies were taking advantage of a terrorist attack. Some took to twitter to express their anger.
@Uber You should be ashamed for surge pricing after a bomb went off in NYC during rush hour. It took my fiance and I $50 to go 30 blocks. Absolutely shameful.
— Kaitlin Stewart Hollander (@stewkait) December 11, 2017
Two major thumbs down to @lyft @Uber for $80 for 10 block surge pricing. Way to take advantage of scared New Yorkers. Not cool.
— Lindsay Meck (@LindsayMeck) December 11, 2017
Trains are a disaster from BK. Uber/Lyft surge is 4x.
What a time.
— Dela (@Dela_Y) December 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/NancyTWS/status/940233499574964224
https://twitter.com/wellthatsnogood/status/940235205478113280
Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang said this according to the New York Post:
"Within minutes of seeing reports of an incident, we disabled dynamic pricing in the area. In addition, we are proactively refunding riders for dynamic pricing on affected trips in the area. Nevertheless, drivers will get to keep their shares of the jacked-up fare prices."
A Lyft spokesperson said they are working to reimburse folks who incurred higher rates during the attack as well. The spokesperson added:
"Our thoughts are with those injured and impacted by this morning's events."