You know Uber’s real-time map showing the auto locations? It’s fake

Fire up its app when you’re stuck for a ride and you’ll be presented with a real-time map, dotted with nearby cars ready to whisk you away. This way, users are influenced to place an order on the app because they are impressed by the large number of available cars and because they perceive the service as being more reliable compared to those of other companies. Uber allegedly has phantom cars which mislead clients. “Another reason is that the app only shows the nearest eight cars to avoid cluttering the screen”, an Uber Spokesperson told The Telegraph.

The claims were made by two researchers.

The article thus speculates that phantom cars could be intentional on Uber’s part: “If a potential passenger opened up the app and saw no cars around, she might take another cab service”. The researchers Alex Rosenblat and Luke Stark studied the Uber app. In their research they realized Uber was showing Phantom cars. “But if she saw a cluster of cars seemingly milling around on the same street, she’s more likely to request a ride”, wrote Mr Rosenblat, whose research – funded by Microsoft – is published on Vice magazine’s Motherboard blog. However, the tests that have been conducted by Data & Society have shown that the arrival times of auto drivers are still accurate even though the cars may not always be real.

The researchers have also said that Uber’s controversial practice of increasing the fare during times of high demand, known as surge pricing, is based on illusory circumstances.

One customer representative of Uber in the US has also been cited in the study. The app is like a “Screensaver” of visual effects.

According to a spokesperson, the location and number of cars is “generally accurate”, but Uber’s help staff seem to disagree, on some levels.

But a UK spokesman for Uber said: “This is simply not true”. The app is not exactly a representation of the number of drivers on the road.

A swarm of vehicles apparently circling your location is intended to act as an incentive to book an Uber auto.

The reason of the “ghost car” issue is due to factors like the desire to maintain a good user experience within the application, driver safety and the concept of latency, whereas if a auto is in motion there may be delay in sending its accurate location in real time.