Planning on being a responsible little partyer this New Year’s Eve? Uber has some tips for making sure your safe ride home goes as smoothly as possible.
First of all, New Year’s Eve is probably the busiest night of the year for taxi companies and Uber. The busiest times, Uber estimates, are earlier in the evening as people are catching rides to their destination between about 8 and 10 p.m.
Traffic really picks up between 12:30 and about 3 a.m. as partiers who thought ahead and Ubered to their destinations make a move to head home as well as those who decide to ditch their car until the morning.
Uber recommends doing a fare estimate in its app before requesting an Uber. That gives riders a chance to check how much their ride is going to cost if surge pricing is in effect. Catching a ride immediately after midnight also helps ensure a cheap ride.
Uber users can also set an alert in their app to be notified when surge pricing goes down.
Uber also has a fare-splitting option in its app that allows riders sharing a car to all split the fare.
One rather hilarious problem Uber has noticed throughout the past year is customers hopping into strangers’ cars thinking it’s their ride. Don’t do that.
The Uber app displays the make and model of the car that will be picking riders up as well as the license plate number and a photo of the driver. The ride share company urges users to check the license plate before hopping into the car. That will ensure safety and go a long way to avoid a very awkward situation.
This year, Uber is offering incentives to people hosting New Year’s Eve parties. Uber customers can arrange rides in advance for their guests to get to the party. It protects against drunken driving and, for every ride purchased, Uber will donate $10 to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Customers must book under “Uberevents + MADD.”
