Have you ever been reported by your ridesharing driver on the app saying they waited too long for you? That sucks, especially if you’d need to pay more for your next ride to compensate for this loss.
Well, now, apparently, it only gets nastier as you might be paying more and waiting more for your Uber ride to arrive, according to a recent study. So, it’s the other way around.
There’s unbearable road traffic in some cities, and then, there’s this wait. Here’s the scoop.
Waiting time grew 19%
The study, conducted by Len Sherman of Columbia Business School, pointed out that the wait time of, not drivers, but passengers for the ride, grew a whopping 19 percent between the first quarter of 2023 and the same period this year, 2026.
The proponents of the study examined 37,500 trips completed by drivers, and found that wait times increased in five of the six cities part of the study, including Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston.
The sixth city, Tampa in Florida, showed a decrease in wait time, interestingly enough. The data do not include the time riders spend waiting for Uber to pair them with a driver, though.
More fees
Also, over the similar period, the price for each mile that Uber charged rose a whopping again 53 percent on average, according to the study.
“You’re charging more for less, for degrading the service,” the study lambasted Uber.
Is Uber milking its passengers? It offered a statement.
“This analysis relies on a number of inaccuracies, which we’ve publicly refuted,” an Uber representative stated.
It also denied the accusations that “the only reason Uber was able to become profitable was by raising the prices while taking an even larger share.”
Uber’s way of “burning cash” merely to acquire users was also criticized, but Uber remained firm on its upfront pricing strategy and how “profitable” it is, or charging passengers more and paying drivers less, as the study pointed out.
“This is a company that has acted in a way that clearly has lost the trust of their customers, riders, and drivers,” Sherman added.
The study was done in partnership together with GigU, an app that shows drivers how much they will make for each minute and for each mile on a trip prior to accepting it.
Human resources professional Denisse Lauren sometimes uses ridesharing to get her to her workplace, and while she does not encounter problems with waiting time on her end, she hates the fact that she gets a bad rating if she causes her driver to wait. Other than that, wait times are still bearable for her.
Do you agree with this study, and its results? What are your thoughts? Do you have violent reactions, and think that the study is being too harsh for Uber? Open your account now on RSF to share those insights! Don’t forget to share this story around, too, with your family and friends! ‘Til then!