Rideshares Surged Over 4th of July Weekend
After over a year with Covid-19 restrictions in place, this 4th of July was the first sense of normalcy for most of the world. With that, a projection of over 43 million Americans was said to be traveling for the 4th of July weekend. This would be a record number of travelers on a holiday weekend. These projections were nothing short of the truth.
The record-breaking number of travelers this 4th of July weekend brought high numbers of vacationers traveling to a variety of destinations. Cities like New York, San Francisco, and San Diego saw severely increased numbers of people this past weekend. With high volumes of individuals in these cities, demand for rideshare services soared.
San Diego
Ranking amongst the top 10 travel destinations in the United States for the 4th of July, San Diego was met with an overwhelming high number of vacationers. This resulted in an extremely high volume of bar and restaruant goers. As a result, San Diego too experienced the heavily inflated surge prices of rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft.
San Diego locals said that on top of surge pricing, the record-breaking number of vacationers also brought about increased wait times. These increased wait times occurred throughout the entire weekend and even the week leading up to it.
Rideshare Demand & Surge Pricing
Surge pricing activates when demand is high and there are not enough suppliers to fulfill that demand. In order to mitigate this increased demand, rideshare services are implementing surge prices. This means riders could pay up to 6 times a regular fee for an Uber or Lyft during this time. There is even potential to pay prices upward of 50% more than normal for any rideshare service. During the holiday weekend, the surge prices were also applying to taxis. Taxis claimed these increased prices were necessary in order to remain in competition with the larger rideshare providers.
COVID-19
With the nationwide mask mandate and capacity limits coming to an end, more United States citizens are becoming vaccinated. With the increase in vaccinated individuals, longer rideshare wait times and surge prices are to become an ongoing occurrence. Rideshare companies are projecting this to likely continue until they can effectively mitigate the increased demand.
Outcomes
With the projected continuation of longer wait times and higher priced rideshares, there’s more incentive for individuals to drive themselves. However, this can result in more drivers on the road who are under the influence, putting themselves and other citizens around them in danger. With this continuation, establishing an alternative like walking or determining a designated driver may be necessary.
DUI
With the rising possibility of drivers under the influence on the road due rideshare inflations, DUIs are a possible result. In the unfavorable event that you find yourself facing a DUI, it’s critical that you contact a DUI specialist immediately. Rick Mueller, California DUI Lawyers Association Specialist, is the perfect fit for all your driving under the influence circumstances, especially if you find yourself in a situation where the increase in rideshare wait times and costs had an impact. With an impressive track recordand customer satisfaction ratings to compliment, Rick Mueller is sure to take your specific situation and get you the best possible outcome.
Rideshares Surged Over 4th of July Weekend