San Diego (and many other markets I'm sure) has become so saturated with drivers that there are routinely times that should be 'peak' that barely produce consistent requests, much less surges. Uber, in the name of showing increasing revenues for the eventual IPO/equity event, is hiring drivers with no concern for the welfare of existing 'partners'. They are well aware of the results of their strategy - 6 month life spans for a large portion of drivers and declining quality. Neither one of those things matter to them, as long as there is a pool of new drivers willing to work for consistently less income (both lower rates and lower # of rides).