The article suggests that Uber subsidize the price on NYE. Given that the price is set by demand, that doesn't make any sense. However much Uber or Amex subsidi

The article suggests that Uber subsidize the price on NYE. Given that the price is set by demand, that doesn't make any sense. However much Uber or Amex subsidizes the price, there are still X people that want rides and Y < X rides available, and the amount you the rider have to pay to win the auction is the same. The anger came because Uber didn't do a good job of setting expectations. Their customers expected that they could get a ride anytime, even NYE, if they were willing to pay a certain premium over what a cab would cost. But the premium on NYE was much larger than the customers (rightly or not) expected. If Uber had done a better job of managing expectations, they wouldn't have angry customers.