Uber, Lyft Prices Surge After CTA Service Halts Near Fullerton
CHICAGO (CBS) -- When a body on the tracks halted service on CTA's Red, Brown and Purple Lines during the morning rush Tuesday, many riders turned to ride-share services, only to find sky-high prices.
RELATED: Normal Service Resumes On Red, Brown, Purple Lines After Body Found On Tracks
One rider posted a screen shot of an Uber fare of $46 at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning. Another posted a Lyft fare at 8 a.m. -- the heart of the rush -- of $102.
Some were not shy about complaining. One rider tweeted, "Pretty gross of Uber and Lyft to enact surge pricing to profit greatly from this morning's CTA tragedy."
Another wrote, "Shame on Uber and Lyft for...profiting from a death." And a third wrote, "It seems wrong that Lyft and Uber profit from someone's death."
Both services conceded that surge pricing occurred because of heavy demand, but said they worked diligently to direct more drivers to the area.
An Uber spokesperson said, "Our team worked diligently to monitor the situation and get more drivers on the road."
Uber urged those with specific questions to contact its support team directly.
Lyft said, in a statement, that "demand quickly outpaced supply and prime time pricing did occur, and said, "this pricing occurs in order to quickly get more drivers to high-demand areas."
The city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection released a statement in which it said, "it is unfortunate that at least two ride share companies chose to take advantage of this morning's difficult commuter situation."
It did not indicate, however, that any investigation would be undertaken.
Service was suspended at 6:45 a.m., minutes after the body was found. Full service was restored around 9:30 a.m. CTA offered shuttle buses as an alternative but were swamped.
