"On average, there is a 14% difference in pricefor the same ride between the two ride-hailing apps, according to a study conducted for the National Bureau of Economic Research and published this month. The study compared fares on Uber and Lyft in New York City in February of this year. The difference might be just a dollar or two on each ride, but it can add up:"
"Yet few Lyft or Uber passengers check more than one app when they need a ride, the researchers found. Using separate data from Comscore, the study said that about 16% of ride-hailing customers across the US check both apps. "Competition should be a click away, but people are acting like it isn't," Michael Luca, a professor at Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School and one of the paper's authors, told Business Insider."
"Harry Hartfield, head of product policy at Uber, said the study does not consider all the factors that can influence Uber's pricing, including the supply of drivers, customer demand, or the distance between the driver and the hailer. "The idea that two companies would display different prices isn't surprising - that's how a competitive marketplace works," Harfield said. Sid Patil, Lyft's executive vice president of marketplace, said that Lyft also uses factors such as driver availability to determine prices. "Riders have a lot to gain, and little to lose by checking Lyft," he said."
Uber and Lyft frequently charge different prices for identical ride-hailing trips. Comparing both apps can collectively save riders millions of dollars. Average fare differences reach about 14% for the same trips in New York City. Price dispersion can amount to roughly $300 million in extra annual payments by riders who do not compare fares. Only about 16% of ride-hailing customers check both apps before ordering. Uber and Lyft attribute price differences to market factors such as driver supply, customer demand, and driver distance, and riders can gain by checking alternatives.
Read at Business Insider
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