People have been growing frustrated with Uber drivers charging them four times the usual ride fare. Will walking a couple of blocks make a difference than waiting five minutes for a ride to make the high fare charges disappear?
Northeastern University researchers published a study entitled "The First In-depth Investigation of Uber," that gives tips and insights about the mysterious, fast-growing and popular ride-sharing service, Uber.
Uber's fare rate algorithm is based on the supply of drivers vs. the demand of rides needed; it resets every five minutes, and it changes depending on the zones which are close together. The study claims that you can save fare money up to 10 to 20 percent, depending on the events when you're going to take a ride on an Uber.
Assistant professor of Northeastern and writer of the study, Christo Wilson, told USA TODAY Network through an e-mail that, "We see that around 40 percent of surges only last five minutes, while about 70 percent of surges last 10 minutes or less. This essentially means that if you observe surge prices on Uber, your best bet is to just wait it out, because they typically don't last long." He presented these findings in the Internet Measure Conference in Tokyo, Japan.
"The other recommendation is to look at the prices being offered in adjacent surge areas. One of our key findings is that Uber divides cities up into areas, and that each area has a different surge multiplier," Wilson added.
"Peeking Beneath the Hood of Uber" is a study based from four weeks' worth of data gathered from 43 phones with the Uber app, distributed to populated towns such as Manhattan and San Francisco.
The Uber app test included ride-sharing options such as luxury black cars to shared carpools. According to Wilson, the study did not include a comparison test with Lyft since there was no way of determining their fares.
The Uber fare charge study will help users save money during their next Uber ride. Just like Google's altered results based on the location, or Facebook's selective views, Uber's algorithm works like a "black box." The data about the user and the driver are not that transparent.
