Tulsa Ride-Sharing Service Not Charging 'Surge' Prices On New Year's Eve

<p>Tulsa's local ride-sharing service, TRide, is making the safe ride home this New Years a little cheaper by not&nbsp;charging surge prices that kick in during peak ride times.</p>

Friday, December 30th 2016, 11:05 pm

By: News On 6


Tulsa's local ride-sharing service, TRide, is making the safe ride home this New Years a little cheaper.

The company isn't charging surge prices that kick in during peak ride times.

TRide got in the Tulsa market back in September with a promise to never charge extra during busy times, like New Year’s Eve, and the company is expecting to have 50-75 drivers out this holiday weekend.

9/10/2016 Related Story: Tulsa Locals Create Ride-Sharing Service

Millions are expected to take ride-share services like Uber to ring in 2017. All that demand for rides causes prices on some services to soar - Uber calls it surge pricing, and you'll see it on New Years.

In Tulsa, ride share drivers like Joe Desrosiers have seen it firsthand.

"On that surge rate, I've seen it go eight, nine, ten times the normal rates, so, you imagine coming out for $20, the next thing you know you've got an eight times rate it's going to cost you $160," he said.

Desrosiers is a contractor for three ride-sharing services in Tulsa - one of them, TRide, promises not to tack on surge pricing when it gets busy.

TRide founder Blake Litton said, “With TRide, we don't surge. We believe the rates should stay the same 24/7, that's our philosophy, that's what we're going to stick to, that's not going to change."

Litton said this is one of the many services his ride sharing app offers that separates the service from Uber and Lyft.

"They don't have to wake up the next morning with, not only a headache but having an empty wallet," he said.

Uber rider Stephen Long enjoys using the app-based service.

"It's a good solution, it's easy, fast and reliable. I haven't had a bad experience with it yet," he said.

But he understands why companies like Uber need to use it.

"I can understand that. Sometimes it sucks whenever it’s a lot more expensive than you were expecting it to be, but I think they do a fairly good job of telling you, 'Hey, it's going to be two times, three times what it would usually be,’ so it's kind of a necessary evil," Long said.

Drivers know high service rates could turn people away from a safe ride home.

"I know that the kids of the younger generation can't afford that and they're going to go back to the old-fashioned ways of drinking and driving, which I can't stand," Desrosiers said.

TRide is launching in Muskogee and Lawton on January 15th.

Uber said the busiest time will be between midnight and 3 a.m. on New Years.

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

December 30th, 2016

March 14th, 2024

December 4th, 2023

September 25th, 2023

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024