Another thing: If Uber really wanted to charge their customers more, they could just raise their rates relative to distance (which would be identical to the use

Another thing: If Uber really wanted to charge their customers more, they could just raise their rates relative to distance (which would be identical to the user since they only see the final fare and not the components of it). I think they probably just pick a long route to be conservative in the time estimate they give to the user.