How does surge work?
Back to basics: What is surge?
There are times when so many people are requesting rides that there aren’t enough cars on the road to help them all. Bad weather, rush hour, and special events, for instance, may cause unusually large numbers of people to want to ride with Uber, all at the same time.
To make it worth your while to drive to these busy areas, dollar amounts are added on top of your fares for trips taken from these busy areas. These dollar amounts are shown on the map screen.
The dollar amounts will increase in zones where there is a higher discrepancy between demand for rides and drivers in the zone. This is shown through the colors on the map and the dollar amounts.
You will see higher dollar amounts in the middle (or red zone) of the surge zones. These higher dollar amounts represent a higher volume of riders requesting. Dollar amounts are lower in the zones where there are fewer riders requesting. The heatmap is provided for informational purposes only. For the most timely surge information, please see the dollar amount shown at the bottom of your screen.
Updates to surge help make it a less frustrating and more reliable, consistent earning opportunity for drivers.
Below is an overview of answers to common questions from roundtables with drivers in cities across the US.
What do I need to know about surge?
- Because it takes time for you to get to a surge zone, surge lasts several minutes on the map.
- Surge is based on where the rider pickup happens, and also takes your location into account. If you and your rider are both in a surge zone, you’ll earn the higher of the 2 amounts.
- The dollar amount shown on the map is the estimated surge amount you’ll earn on your next trip. The heatmap is provided for informational purposes only. For the most timely surge information, please see the dollar amount shown at the bottom of your screen.
- Surge amounts will stick with you as you continue to move through zones before your next trip. This means that you will keep the highest surge amount that you have driven through for your next trip, even if you leave the surge zone (without going offline).
- Riders surge payments fund all driver surge within the zone, even those that stick with you as you leave the zone.
How do I earn with surge?
- Drive to a surge zone. (If you drive through multiple surge zones, you’ll earn the highest surge amount that you have driven through on your next trip.)
- Stay online and accept your next trip.
- You will earn surge if you are in a surge zone or the rider’s pickup location is in a surge zone when you accept the trip.
- The surge amount will be shown at the bottom of your home screen when you’re in a surge zone. This is the minimum surge amount that you’ll earn on your next trip, in addition to regular fares. (Note: the surge amount will not apply to your next trip if you reject, cancel, go offline, or change your trip preferences.)
- Check the “surge” line item on your trip receipt at the end of a surge trip to see any additional earnings on top of what was shown on your map screen.
Sometimes I don’t get surge on my next trip. Why is that?
When you reach a surge zone, the additional surge earnings will not be applied to your next trip if you are to cancel, reject, go offline, or change your trip preferences.
How does surge work for UberPool trips?
Surge pickup fees will be added to each UberPool pickup during the surge trip, in addition to the surge dollar amount on the map. The surge pickup fee amount will be shown on the request screen before each additional pickup on the trip. UberPool is currently inactive due to COVID precautions.
Where can I see my surge earnings from UberPool trips?
You can find your surge earnings on your trip receipt. You will see two different items that show your total surge earnings. The extra surge amount for pickups appears in your standard pickups fees.
Take a look at a sample receipt for a $4 surge zone and two $3 surge pool pickup fees, totaling $10:
Additional surge Pool pickup amounts will only apply on Pool trips with more than 1 pickup on Pool.
Please note that UberPool is currently inactive due to COVID pre-cautions.
How does surge work at the airport?
Join the driver queue zone and accept a trip while in the queue to earn airport surge amounts.
How to earn surge:
1. Join the driver queue zone
2. Complete a trip request received in the driver queue zone
3. Airport surge amount will be applied to the completed trip
Trips accepted while you are outside of the driver queue zone will not be eligible for airport surge amounts. This is intended to better match drivers to airport trip requests during busy times.
Note: You are still eligible for airport surge amounts when you receive and accept an airport trip request immediately after dropping off a rider at the airport.
How do I give feedback about the surge experience?
Your comments are valuable to us and help us improve your driving experience. If you have thoughts or suggestions about the new surge, we’d love to hear them.
To submit your feedback, use the form below or head to your local Greenlight Hub to talk to an expert.
As we work to improve the marketplace, we may test functionality and pricing in ways not described on this site.
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