1. Then you pay more. Someone will eventually set a price at level they are willing to provide this service. Nothing wrong with free markets operating as they are intended.

2. Contracts are inherently complicated. In the end you probably only need to check the total price or ask for such offer.

Drivers absolutely care where they are going. And have all the rights to set price accordingly risk on their lives and livelihoods they perceive. After all there should be risk premium for going to areas where they might have to risk their vehicles or lives.

Really? Let Black people pay more because of racism? I just cited two articles where Black business men in the middle of the city have a hard time catching a cab because of their color.

Isn’t that the same thing people said about segregation and Jim Crow laws? Before you think that is ancient history. My still living parents grew up in the Jim Crow south.

I travel for business across the US as a consultant. I work for a company worth $1.6 trillion dollars last time I checked. My expense reimbursements can easily go to over two grand for a week trip. I’m glad I know I can just click a button to be guaranteed a ride in 2021, instead of the dealing with taxis the first time I went to NYC in 2012 for a vacation.

And to your second point. This is why engineers make horrible product designers.

So you are saying that someone should not be able to set higher price to let's say move goods to eastern Ukraine? But would be mandate to go there at same price level as let's say Spain?

Or they should make delivery of goods to remote place in Alaska for same price as between two highly interconnected hubs? Taking that distance between is the same...

No, I specifically said that the drivers should be able to choose a ride based solely on cost/benefits - how much in time and money will the ride cost - distance to the pick up spot, distance to the destination, and traffic congestion. You can determine all of that in aggregate based on gps.

If you want to add another variable - rider ratings - that’s fine. Judge people based on their individual behavior - shocking I know.

And despite all of the fear. The chance of a random Uber driver being harmed in a “bad neighborhood” are infinitesimal. Most of the reports of people being harmed on Uber rides was on the part of the driver directed at the passenger.

Exactly. There are always going to be low profit or unprofitable areas and it's unreasonable to expect an individual driver to subsidize those rides. That should fall on the company that's profiting in aggregate (ex: Uber). Unfortunately I think I'm in the minority with my belief that companies like Uber have a social obligation to serve economically depressed areas.

Everybody should be asking themselves where the line is when it comes to not being a profitable enough customer because, as wealth disparity increases, the odds of being on the wrong side of that line are going up for everyone in the bottom 50%.

> If you want to add another variable - rider ratings - that’s fine. Judge people based on their individual behavior - shocking I know.

Yes. Uber has all the info needed to obfuscate ride details to the point where they could reduce discriminatory biases and have drivers selecting rides based primarily on economics and rider reputation.

> Exactly. There are always going to be low profit or unprofitable areas and it's unreasonable to expect an individual driver to subsidize those rides.

I’ve said it twice now. Give the drivers the information they need to know the cost of the trip - distance to pick up, distance to drop off, and the estimated time to get there. Let the algorithm decide how to appropriately charge based on supply and demand. I have no problem paying more to get from my house in the northern burbs to the airport in the south 60 miles and two hours away in traffic. I’m the epitome of the none price sensitive customer - I’m not paying for it. Either my company is paying for it or my company’s customer is paying for it.

When I am price sensitive on personal trips, I get an Uber to the closest train station that is much closer and less traffic.

> Unfortunately I think I'm in the minority with my belief that companies like Uber have a social obligation to serve economically depressed areas.

I disagree. The only responsibility that Uber has is to make a profit and let drivers use their own free will to decide whether it’s worth it. Uber shouldn’t even be responsible for benefits. If we as a society decide that everyone has the right to healthcare (I do), add a per ride government fee and let the government pay for it.

If you want affordable transportation, the government should either provide it themselves via mass transit or subsidize Uber rides for those who can’t afford it and if it’s more cost effective. That’s already happening in some places - via a “Universal Fund” tax added to each Uber ride.

If it isn’t obvious, I’m a pro capitalist, bleeding heart liberal big government pig. I should (or at least my company should) pay for the societal benefits of the ride share drivers.