Monday morning’s snow made for a pricey commute for those relying on ride-sharing services to get to work.

Around 8 a.m., prime time to head out to work, the Uber app said scheduling a ride in the Wrigleyville neighborhood wasn’t even possible.

Lyft was offering rides from the area, but a solo economy-level ride headed downtown to Prudential Plaza would cost a whopping $51.11. The price dropped to just over $14 if you opted to share the ride with one to two other people.

On the South Side, in Hyde Park, getting downtown to the Thompson Center was setting commuters back $70 and the ride door-to-door was going to take nearly 30 minutes on Lyft. On Uber, the fare was between $15 and $20 depending upon pick-up location and traffic in Hyde Park, according to the app.

Chicago Tribune Two screen shots show how the cost of a Lyft ride to the suburbs on Jan. 28, 2019, was triple the price just days earlier. Left: At 10:28 p.m. Friday, a Lyft fare from downtown Chicago to Glencoe was $30.26. Right: At 9:03 a.m. Monday, the same ride was quoted as $97.59. Two screen shots show how the cost of a Lyft ride to the suburbs on Jan. 28, 2019, was triple the price just days earlier. Left: At 10:28 p.m. Friday, a Lyft fare from downtown Chicago to Glencoe was $30.26. Right: At 9:03 a.m. Monday, the same ride was quoted as $97.59. (Chicago Tribune)

Prices were also high for those trying to get downtown from Pilsen, specifically to Union Station from the area around 18th Street. The fare was just over $31 for a solo ride on Uber, and on Lyft the price tag was roughly the same at $30 for a less-than-20-minute commute, despite the super-slick roads and steadily falling snow.

Uber showed a solo ride from Union Station to the Apple store on North Michigan Avenue to be just over $27. It was a bit pricier for the same service via Lyft, at just a few cents shy of $30.

There is no cap on the prices ride-sharing companies can charge, according to Lilia Chacon, spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. But Uber says it offers a range of options, so riders have a choice of fare options even during surge pricing, which the company calls “dynamic pricing.” In Chicago, Uber Pool, which allows riders to share an Uber with other one or two other passengers is cheaper than riding solo. Uber “Express Pool,” allows riders to walk a few blocks to meet up with their car and be dropped off a few blocks away from their destination to save money. The company’s goal is to ensure “riders can push a button and get a ride within minutes, regardless of the weather,” said spokeswoman Charity Jackson. Plus, she added, riders can see the pricing up front, so they have “more certainty and control about when and how they use Uber,” she said. NEW

By mid-morning when the snow stopped, prices had plunged like the temperatures.

crshropshire@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @corilyns

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