In the wake of last week’s shooting, I heard disturbing reports of extraneous “surge” pricing of ride share companies that occurred during the chaos and confusion of the incident. Attached is a link to the letter I sent to Lyft and Uber today, as the Chair of the City Council’s Transportation Committee, inquiring about the veracity of that reporting. I am concerned about the safety of our residents in times of crisis, and this issue, if true, is especially problematic as this is an equity issue. You should not have to be wealthy to escape violence during a crisis, so I look forward to hearing from these ride share companies to learn about what might have gone wrong last week, and what could be done to remedy the situation.

It’s also important for these organizations to have an open line of communication with our City’s Office of Emergency Management during emergencies.

Click on this link for my letter to Lyft and Uber: https://council.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PedersenLetterUberLyft27Jan2020.pdf

UPDATE FEB 3, 2020: Both Lyft and Uber responded to my information request. You can read their letters here:

Posted: January 27th, 2020 under Councilmember Pedersen