For New Yorkers planning on relying on Uber to get them around during this weekend's projected blizzard ... just know that it may cost you more than you anticipated.
Speaking to The Verge, Uber laid out the two conditions that it would cap its surge pricing under during the blizzard in the Big Apple.
"If a state of emergency is declared, or the attorney general advises us the agreement has been triggered, then we will be capping uberX at 3.5x [the normal fare] and Uber BLACK at 2.8x, per the terms of the agreement," an Uber spokesperson told the website, as reported Friday.
As of Friday afternoon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. have all declared state of emergencies for the snowstorm, but New York has only issued a travel warning.
While Uber awaits a possible change to a state of emergency, which would trigger the limiting of its surge pricing, New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman can also decide to activate the agreement he reached with the ride-hailing service two years ago.
At that time, the two parties agreed that Uber would set a cap on surge pricing during what's deemed as "abnormal disruptions of the market," according to The Verge. A blizzard can definitely be pegged to fit that description.
Perhaps both New York's governor and Schneiderman are waiting to see how the early stages of the storm actually pans out because there have been times in the past where the projections don't dump down on the Big Apple, sparing the city.
During other times, though, the city has been blanketed in snow, making any kind of commute treacherous.
Thus far, Schneiderman only told The Verge that he would be open to tabbing the agreement, which would have Uber's capping of its surge pricing kick in.
If neither happens, it seems like New Yorkers dependent on Uber are going to be at the ride-hailing company's mercy.
