Two people with near-identical Uber ratings, going from the same Point A to the same Point B at the exact same time, should in theory be quoted the

Black woman charged more than white man for the exact same Uber ride in Toronto

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2021-08-19 23:00:10

Two people with near-identical Uber ratings, going from the same Point A to the same Point B at the exact same time, should in theory be quoted the exact same price... right? Or at least somewhere within the same ballpark?

A powerful image of two friends from Toronto, one Black and one white, showing off the vastly different rates they were recently quoted by the ride-sharing app — for the same ride, at the same time — has people all over the world discussing such questions this week, as well as once again sounding the alarm over racial bias in algorithms.

In it, we see two hands, both holding phones with the Uber app on display. Both app users appear to have requested a ride from the same address on Christie Street to the music venue Rebel at Polson Pier. The rides were requested within seconds of each other.

And yet, the disparity between the rates quoted to each customer is huge: The phone on the left, held by a Black woman, shows a price of $57.80 for an UberX seven minutes away. The phone on the right, held by a white man, shows the same vehicle and time option for just $32.58.