New Yorkers rage about hefty Uber prices after CEO stunned by $52 fare for 3-mile ride

Khosrowshahi attributed the head-scratching fee to “surge pricing,” Levy insisted that made no sense given the trip took place at “10 a.m. on a sunny weekday and it’s not like the president’s in town.”

Uber’s CEO blamed inflation for the increased rates, telling Wired during his sit-down that “everything is more expensive.”

But the company’s prices in the US have increased at four times the rate of inflation – for a total of 83% — between 2018 and 2022, according to a recent Forbes analysis.

In the past, Khosrowshahi has attributed soaring prices to a shortage of drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic, though Uber reached a record-high 5 million drivers in August 2022 — up 31% from the year prior, the company noted in its Q2 2022 earnings report.