Uber Cuts Fares in 4 Cities in May and June 2016
Over the past month, Uber cut fares in 4 cities. There were three cities that received a fare increase in the last month. So far this year, Uber cut prices in 125 cities and Lyft reduced prices in about 36 markets. This additional fare decrease will bring up the total to 126 cities. The other 3 cities were an additional fare decrease or price adjustment on the 125 cities.
They did the same thing last year by cutting fares in approximately 50 cities. Below are my previous posts about when fares were increased last year after the winter fare cuts:
Here are some of the statistics from last year:
- There is about a 62% chance that your city will get a fare increase after the fare cuts
- There is only a 6% chance that your city will have its fare cut reversed back to the original price
- The average fare increase after the fare cuts was 10%, with a one unfortunate city getting further cuts
- The average fare cut in January 2015 was 26%. The net fare cut as calculated in July was 20%, so the net increase from “winter pricing” was about 6% for all 48 cities.
Minimum Fares Gets a Boost
In addition, Uber has also recognized that the minimum fares in some cities are too low, so they adjusted the minimum fares in 27 cities. Below is the list of cities that received an increase in the minimum fares, along with the old and new minimum fares for UberX:
| Old Min Fare | New Min Fare | |
| atlanta | $ 5.75 | $ 6.75 |
| baltimore | $ 5.50 | $ 5.95 |
| boston | $ 5.15 | $ 6.15 |
| charleston | $ 4.50 | $ 5.50 |
| cincinnati | $ 4.00 | $ 5.60 |
| cleveland | $ 4.70 | $ 5.70 |
| detroit | $ 5.30 | $ 6.30 |
| honolulu | $ 4.00 | $ 6.20 |
| jacksonville | $ 5.50 | $ 6.30 |
| lexington | $ 4.00 | $ 4.40 |
| lincoln | $ 4.10 | $ 5.10 |
| los-angeles | $ 4.65 | $ 5.15 |
| louisville | $ 4.00 | $ 5.10 |
| madison | $ 5.20 | $ 5.45 |
| minneapolis | $ 5.55 | $ 6.05 |
| new-jersey | $ 5.60 | $ 6.55 |
| new-york | $ 7.00 | $ 8.00 |
| oklahoma-city | $ 4.80 | $ 5.55 |
| omaha | $ 3.65 | $ 5.05 |
| ‘Philadelphia’ | $ 5.25 | $ 5.75 |
| pittsburgh | $ 6.00 | $ 6.95 |
| raleigh | $ 4.80 | $ 5.80 |
| salt-lake-city | $ 4.55 | $ 4.65 |
| san-diego | $ 4.75 | $ 5.75 |
| santa-barbara | $ 5.25 | $ 5.75 |
| spokane | $ 5.40 | $ 6.00 |
Fare Cuts
Over the last month, Uber cut fares in 5 markets. The cities that got fare decreases were:
- Manchester*
- Los Angeles
- Jackson
- Sacramento
Only three cities received fare increases:
- Iowa City*
- Jacksonville
- New Jersey*
So 5 markets received fare cuts in the last month and 3 cities with fare increase. This brings a total of 21 out of 125 cities that received fare increases after their seasonal fare cut. I was disappointed that not more cities had fare increases this month, so I don’t expect too many for the rest of the year. Uber also cuts fares into the June/July time frame. They also do a summer fare cut in some cities as well so watch out for those come June/July. I don’t believe the fare will ever be restored to their previous levels, unless you received a cut last year as well. I predict about 50 cities will get price increases total this year, which is a small fraction compared to last year.
Fare Cut Data:
Manchester – a 38% price decrease
| 4/27/2016 | 5/11/2016 | May Decrease | |
| Base Fare | $ 1.75 | $ 1.20 | -31% |
| Minute | $ 0.23 | $ 0.13 | -43% |
| Mile | $ 2.00 | $ 1.20 | -40% |
| Safety | $ 1.40 | $ 1.40 | 0% |
| Min Fare | $ 5.40 | $ 5.40 | 0% |
| Cancel | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | 0% |
Los Angeles – 11% decrease, or a total of 18% decrease from January.
| 1/4/2016 | 5/11/2016 | 5/23/2016 | Jan Decrease | May Decrease | 2016 Decrease | |
| Base Fare | $ – | $ – | $ – | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Minute | $ 0.18 | $ 0.15 | $ 0.11 | 17% | -27% | -39% |
| Mile | $ 1.00 | $ 0.90 | $ 0.85 | 10% | -6% | -15% |
| Safety | $ 1.65 | $ 1.65 | $ 1.65 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Min Fare | $ 4.65 | $ 4.65 | $ 4.65 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Cancel | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Jackson – 23% fare decrease
| 5/23/2016 | 6/6/2016 | June Decrease | |
| Base Fare | $ 2.50 | $ 1.75 | 0% |
| Minute | $ 0.20 | $ 0.12 | -40% |
| Mile | $ 1.65 | $ 1.15 | -30% |
| Safety | $ 1.65 | $ 1.65 | 0% |
| Min Fare | $ 5.65 | $ 5.65 | 0% |
| Cancel | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | 0% |
Sacramento – a 15% price cut
| 5/23/2016 | 6/6/2016 | June Decrease | |
| Base Fare | $ 1.00 | $ 1.00 | 0% |
| Minute | $ 0.16 | $ 0.12 | -25% |
| Mile | $ 0.95 | $ 0.75 | -21% |
| Safety | $ 1.75 | $ 1.75 | 0% |
| Min Fare | $ 4.75 | $ 4.75 | 0% |
| Cancel | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | 0% |
Fare Increase Data:
Iowa City – a 32% increase, but still 20% down from the January price cuts.
| 1/4/2016 | 4/27/2016 | 5/11/2016 | Jan Decrease | May Increase | |
| Base Fare | $ 1.35 | $ 0.85 | $ 1.00 | 37% | 18% |
| Minute | $ 0.18 | $ 0.11 | $ 0.15 | 39% | 36% |
| Mile | $ 1.20 | $ 0.70 | $ 1.00 | 42% | 43% |
| Safety | $ 1.15 | $ 1.15 | $ 1.00 | 0% | -13% |
| Min Fare | $ 5.15 | $ 3.95 | $ 4.00 | 23% | 1% |
| Cancel | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | 0% | 0% |
Jacksonville – 15% decrease, but still 15% down from January price levels
| 1/4/2016 | 5/23/2016 | 6/6/2016 | Jan Decrease | June Increase | 2016 Decrease | |
| Base Fare | $ 1.00 | $ 1.00 | $ – | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Minute | $ 0.13 | $ 0.11 | $ 0.11 | 15% | 0% | -15% |
| Mile | $ 0.75 | $ 0.65 | $ 0.75 | 13% | 15% | 0% |
| Safety | $ 2.05 | $ 2.05 | $ 2.05 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Min Fare | $ 5.05 | $ 5.50 | $ 6.30 | -9% | 15% | 25% |
| Cancel | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
New Jersey Shore – 3% increase, but still down 9% from January Price levels
| 1/4/2016 | 5/23/2016 | 6/6/2016 | Jan Decrease | May Increase | 2016 Decrease | |
| Base Fare | $ 3.00 | $ 2.40 | $ 2.40 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Minute | $ 0.18 | $ 0.15 | $ 0.16 | 17% | 7% | -11% |
| Mile | $ 2.00 | $ 1.65 | $ 1.70 | 18% | 3% | -15% |
| Safety | $ 1.60 | $ 1.60 | $ 1.60 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Min Fare | $ 8.60 | $ 8.60 | $ 8.60 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Cancel | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | $ 5.00 | 0% | 0% | 0% |
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