Originally Posted by
radiowell
Bolding mine. I am beginning to stay away from Uber/Lyft at LAX because the drivers won't respond if there's no surge. Lately, it seems that LAX is all surge, all the time, so the drivers are getting worse and won't pick up if there is "only" 1.5X or 2X surge and wait for bigger surges (personal experience, multiple times)
Compounding the fact is that people request when they touch down, inside the plane, so I see tons of drivers just left hanging at the pick up areas looking for the requesters, and leading to even more shortage/surge.
A couple of things...
1. You have a part of the answer yourself pax doing things like requesting cars LONG before they are ready. That sucks up supply and increases demand which in turn increases the price.
2. In most cities (read almost all) Uber/Lyft is significantly cheaper than taxis and way more convenient the public transportation. If you hate the price go with another form of transportation and deal with the cons on that side.
3. Airport Uber/Lyft is not like everywhere else where the closest driver gets the call. Instead drivers are forced to sit and wait for their "turn". So either a driver wastes gas driving away from the airport (which causes surges b/c there are no cars) or the driver wastes time waiting (so the driver wants to make up for the loss of wages hence the 1.5 or better threshold).
4. All of the time FlyerTalk member use the term "fair
market rate". That is a misnomer b/c Uber/Lyft rates have nothing to do with the cost of taxis, rental cars, limos, busses, you know the transportation
market.
Forgive me for mansplaining:
The transportation market (taxis and limos) complained that Uber/Lyft was undercutting the fair
market rate for transportation without regulation. It's hard to regulate a private citizen/person on a public road giving a private person a ride. Except the airport because it's technically
not public. Airports tend to be away from everything (so drivers are only there to drop off/pick up), have a limited number of drivers that can be there (capped supply) and only allow vehicles of a certain age and class to pick up (further capping supply).
All of that caused the airport became the one area where drivers can set "fair market rates" based on what they personally choose which is what Uber/Lyft's so-called "independent contractors" should be able to do anyway.