RideLens

Sources

Where every number comes from

RideLens shows what it can stand behind and says what it cannot. Right now 1 of 7 sources are answering. Everything else is listed with the specific reason it is not.

Quote sources

  • Published rate cards

    Answering now

    A live OSRM route, the city's published tariff, the regulatory fee stack, tolls along the line, a live Open-Meteo precipitation signal, and a deterministic simulation of marketplace behaviour.

    Comparison permitted?
    Public data. No permission required.

  • Obi FARE.AI

    Needs partner approval

    Licensed market percentiles (p25–p75) for Uber, Lyft, Curb and others — what trips like this have recently cost across the market.

    Comparison permitted?
    Permitted under an Obi licence. Their consumer app is never scraped.
    Why it is not on
    Needs OBI_API_KEY and OBI_API_SECRET.

  • Uber Price Estimates API

    Comparison not permitted

    Uber's own estimate endpoint.

    Comparison permitted?
    Not permitted for comparison under the public API terms (§ II B) without written authorization.
    Why it is not on
    Disabled for comparison by default, and stays that way absent written authorization.

  • Lyft /v1/cost

    Needs partner approval

    Lyft's own cost and ETA endpoints.

    Comparison permitted?
    Commercially unclear; gated behind an explicit authorization flag.
    Why it is not on
    Needs LYFT_COMPARISON_AUTHORIZED plus client credentials.

  • Curb partner API

    Needs partner approval

    Curb Business quotes, upfront where the API says so.

    Comparison permitted?
    Permitted if the partner contract allows it.
    Why it is not on
    Needs CURB_API_KEY and CURB_API_BASE_URL.

  • Empower partner API

    Needs partner approval

    Empower's own estimates.

    Comparison permitted?
    Permitted if the partner contract allows it.
    Why it is not on
    Needs EMPOWER_API_KEY and EMPOWER_API_BASE_URL.

How often we are right

We do not know yet. 0 of 20 reported fares needed before this number means anything, and nothing is published below that — a figure on a page gets read and the caveat beside it does not. The model has never been checked against a real fare.

Model 2026-09-27.v3. Rate cards last verified 2026-09-01 (46 days ago).

Where each provider is shown

A provider appears in a comparison only where its coverage has been confirmed. Anywhere else it is left out and named, because “we checked and it is not here” and “we have not checked” are different sentences. Of 49 modelled markets:

  • uberevery modelled market
  • lyftevery modelled market
  • curb1 confirmed market
  • empowerno confirmed market — not shown anywhere

What RideLens will never claim

  1. That a modeled number is a live provider quote.
  2. That a range has a single price, by showing its midpoint.
  3. That one option is cheaper than another when their bands overlap.
  4. That a fare is final. The provider’s app is where a fare becomes real.
  5. That a provider is unavailable when the truth is that RideLens lacks a credential.
  6. That a personalised price applies to anyone else.

Back to the comparison