Were they discriminating against the individual or the likelihood that they would not be able to find a paying passenger in the immediate vicinity of the endpoi

Were they discriminating against the individual or the likelihood that they would not be able to find a paying passenger in the immediate vicinity of the endpoint? Let's say they believed they would have to drive back to Manhattan for their next customer -- their effective earnings would drop by more than half (expensive backhaul) compared to a scenario where they could pick-up a paying passenger just a few blocks away.