Uber CEO stunned by $52 fare charged for 3-mile ride in NYC: ‘Wow!’By Shannon Thaler
August 1, 2023
Uber’s loathed surge pricing left even its own CEO with sticker shock.
A journalist who took an Uber from downtown Manhattan to interview the company’s boss Dara Khosrowshahi on the West Side paid $51.69, including the driver’s tip, for the 2.95-mile trip.
“Oh my God. Wow,” Khosrowshahi exclaimed when he was shown the eye-popping fare by Wired editor-at-large of Steven Levy, who revealed their conversation Tuesday.
In his sitdown with Khosrowshahi — which happened in May at Uber’s annual product event Go-Get — Levy asked the executive to guess the cost of the trip.
“Twenty bucks,” ventured Khosrowshahi, whose company announced it turned its first-ever operating profit when it released second-quarter earnings Tuesday.
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“Everything is more expensive,” Khosrowshahi said bluntly, citing that the effects of inflation have caused rates to go up along with the cost of time and labor.
However, a report by Forbes concluded that Uber’s prices in the US have increased at four times the rate of inflation from 2018 to 2022.
Fares rose a total of 83% over the nearly four years ending in Q3 of 2022, according to Forbes.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/08/01/uber-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-stunned-by-52-fare-charged-for-3-mile-ride-in-nyc/
