While they’ve dropped slightly since the summer, average prices for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft remain at near-record highs in the DC area, according to the research firm YipitData.
Yipitdata tracks prices for UberX and Lyft trips nationwide. The firm’s data shows the average price was $15.15 per trip in the DC area in October 2019, then after the pandemic began rose as high as $17.75 per trip in July 2020.
By October 2020 the price was back down to $15.38, but earlier this year it went up significantly, reaching a record of $19.27 in July. As of last month, it had only dropped to $18.88.
Although the price has jumped significantly in the D.C. area, our region actually has fared a little better than the national average, which according to Yipitdata was over $20 from May to August of this year.
Yipitdata research analyst Peter Martin says neither Lyft nor Uber has indicated any plan to subsidize rides in order to bring prices down.
"They're kind of letting the market determine the price, and I think that means unless more drivers come online, you can't necessarily expect the prices to go down,” Martin said. “With that being said, we haven't seen anything in our data to suggest that they've made these price increases permanent."
Both Uber and Lyft gave 7News similar reasons for why prices are high – not enough drivers.
Uber spokesperson Michele Blackwell wrote in an email:
“We’re continuing to work hard to bring drivers onto the platform to address demand. As demand picks up there are times when there are more trips than drivers available to give them. Surge pricing goes into effect automatically when there are more riders in a given area than available drivers. For drivers, it’s an incentive to serve busier areas and helps rebalance the market.”
Meanwhile, a Lyft spokesperson sent us the following statement:
“As vaccines rolled out and people started moving again, we began to see the demand for rides outpace the number of available drivers. We’ve added thousands of drivers to the platform and expect rider wait times and prices to improve moving forward. For drivers, it continues to be a great time to drive with drivers in top markets earning significantly more than they were pre-pandemic.”
Martin recommends trying to save money by reserving a ride in advance of when you need it – that may enable you to avoid surge pricing if things are busy when you’ve scheduled the ride.
Other advice from him and others:
- try to avoid taking rideshares at the busiest times, such as weekend nights and weekday rush hour
- if you’re with a crowd of people all waiting for Ubers and Lyfts, try walking a few blocks away to see if prices and/or wait times drop
Also, Lyft says it has a “Wait & Save” feature in which riders can choose to wait longer for a ride in order to save money.