How You Can Avoid Uber’s Surge Pricing Just By Walking

Is Uber something you use? I’ve never used it, and honestly, I probably never will. Where I live, I drive. We live in a small beach community in Florida, and we just drive. When we are in New York or another big city, I’m far more comfortable simply paying the fares for cabs or private cars; it’s what makes me feel comfortable. However, I know that the younger generation is high on Uber, and that’s fine with me. Call me old-fashioned, but I’d rather hire a town car service than a stranger in her minivan any day. That said, Uber has something that they refer to as surge pricing, something they charge customers who need a ride when demand is high. It’s expensive, and many people dislike paying this surge pricing.

When the price is higher because the demand is greater, you want to find a way to avoid paying the fee, and for good reason. Fortunately, some intelligent minds at Northeastern University put their thoughts into action and proved that there is a way to avoid paying surge pricing through Uber; and they’re sharing that with the rest of us. According to Northeastern’s study, they created 43 Uber accounts and created a script, pinged the servers at five second intervals and recorded this information in two of the biggest cities in the country; Manhattan and San Francisco.

By using that information with Uber’s public information, researchers were able to come up with a solution to the surge pricing crisis that plagues Uber users across the country; walk a few blocks, wait a few minutes, and try again. It just so happens that surge pricing, according to Northeastern’s information, lasts no more than 10 minutes at a time, meaning a few moments, a short walk and another try will often do the trick to bring prices back down to normal.

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