Portland Snow Meant High Prices for Uber, Lyft

Congestion pricing raises the ride to PDX by 550 percent.

By Rachel Monahan

As an inch and a half of snow fell on Portland and the streets filled with traffic, Twitter filled with stories of the high price for a ride home from the ride-sharing programs.

That's part of the congestion pricing model used by ride-sharing companies. When demand is high, Uber and Lyft raise prices—a term commonly known as "surge pricing."

To be fair, travel times were also much longer this evening.

Lyft reportedly saw surge prices of 550 percent.

At the peak of rush hour, Uber reportedly offered a nearly $100 ride from the Lloyd Center to Saint Johns.

And The Oregonian reported a $127.66 Uber ride to the Portland International Airport. When we checked a few minutes later, we found an UberX ride—the cheapest option—to the airport for $95.08. The fancier Uber Select cars cost $232.16 for that trip.

A MAX ride cost $2.50, but switches froze on eastbound lines.

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