The fares of the Vehicles for Transport with Driver (VTC) skyrocketed yesterday during the big blackout that melted the city to black. According to some media such as Gran Madrid, the prices of services such as those offered by Uber and Cabify multiplied, leaving pictures like the one reported by journalist Luis F. Durán: “A trip between Madrid and Alcorcón costs 90 euros when the normal price is 25 euros“.
In this medium we wanted to do the test 24 hours after what happened: requesting a trip this morning for a trip between the center of Madrid and Alcorcón today ranges between €13.30 (if you share a vehicle) and €25.38 (if you choose a six-seater van ).
From Cabify have assured that although these rates were in force for a while, after the blackout urgently decided to “maintain the basic standard price” without applying prices for high demand.
The VTC algorithm, the reason for the inflated prices.
The reason why VTC prices were inflated in such a way during that time has to do with how the algorithm of this type of services works. It is a dynamic system, meaning that prices are adjusted in real time based on factors such as demand.