The price of your next rideshare trip could depend on more than just traffic.
The practice is known as surveillance pricing, where companies use data and AI to help determine what customers pay.
A Consumer Reports investigation found two people standing side by side, requesting the same ride at the same time, could be shown very different prices.
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Testing was conducted in March and April. According to Consumer Reports, they conducted virtual and in person testing across both platforms and on a variety of routes.
They also examined advertised offers and promotions for both Uber and Lyft before rides were ordered and paid for.
Uber and Lyft dispute some of Consumer Reports' findings, but several states are already moving to limit or ban the practice.
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Those who reviewed Consumer Reports said they didn’t expect to see such large price differences between the highest and lowest fares.
“The magnitude of the high/low price differentials is astonishing,” says Len Sherman, an executive-in-residence at Columbia Business School in New York City.
