A shooting that took place inside a New York City subway on Tuesday morning in Brooklyn left at least 16 people injured. In response to the emergency situation, power was shut off on various lines of the mass transit system that carries more than 4.3 million people every day. Still needing to get to work or school, many people turned to Uber as an alternate means of transportation. They were greeted with fares up to $200.
Uber often applies a multiplier to its standard rates when demand for rides increases. According to the company’s documentation, these price increases are applied in real-time in response to the number of rides being requested at a given time. Requests, of course, spiked following the subway shooting from people seeking shelter and safe transportation, and Uber’s system automatically responded to these requests by charging people a premium to get to where they need to go.
