Our Team

Meet Sriram Manoharan, Founder of RideWise

RideWise is built and maintained by Sriram Manoharan, a software engineer with over a decade of experience building data-driven platforms in financial technology. He combines that background with daily rideshare research to power the free Uber vs Lyft vs taxi comparison tool for 300+ US cities and 47 airports.

Sriram Manoharan

Founder & Lead Engineer

Sriram Manoharan is a lead software engineer with over a decade of experience building data-driven platforms. Before founding RideWise, he worked at The Carlyle Group (Lead Software Engineer), Bloomberg (Senior Software Engineer), and Haven Technologies (Full Stack Engineer). He holds a graduate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

After years of manually switching between the Uber and Lyft apps before every ride to find the better price, Sriram built RideWise to automate that comparison. The idea was simple: aggregate the publicly available rate cards that Uber and Lyft publish for each city, apply the same fare formulas the apps use internally, and show riders a side-by-side estimate — without needing to open two apps. What started as a weekend project grew into a comparison tool with reviewed city guides, editorial research, verified rate data for 8 service tiers, and time-of-day surge estimates.

Technical Expertise

Full-stack engineering (React, Node.js, TypeScript, Python)Data pipeline architecture & pricing modelsTransportation data analysisAPI design & scalable systems

Education

University of Illinois at Chicago — Graduate College (2011–2013)

Professional Background

Founder & Lead Engineer — RideWise

2025 – Present

Built the rideshare fare comparison platform from scratch — data pipelines for rate card aggregation, pricing estimation engine, and the consumer-facing comparison tool.

Lead Software Engineer — The Carlyle Group

Led full-stack development supporting global investment operations. Built AI-driven POCs using LangChain and mentored junior engineers.

Senior Software Engineer — Bloomberg

Worked on financial data platforms using Node.js, TypeScript, and MySQL at scale.

Full Stack Engineer — Haven Technologies

Contributed to building an end-to-end insurtech platform for life insurance products.

Why I Built RideWise

As a software engineer commuting across New York City, I was spending a significant portion of my transportation budget on rideshares. The routine was always the same: open Uber, check the price, switch to Lyft, compare, then decide. It was tedious, and I knew I was leaving money on the table when I didn't bother to compare.

The turning point was realizing that both Uber and Lyft publish their rate cards — the base fares, per-mile rates, and per-minute rates for every city. These are public data. The fare formula is straightforward: Base + (Rate × Distance) + (Rate × Time) + Booking Fee. If I could aggregate these rate cards, I could estimate and compare fares for any route without opening either app.

That weekend project became RideWise. I built the data pipeline to aggregate rate cards from Uber, Lyft, and local taxi commissions for supported US markets. The estimation engine applies each provider's published formula to any given route. The result: riders can compare fares from every major provider in one place, instantly.

I maintain the platform myself — updating rate data monthly when providers adjust pricing, validating estimates against real fares, and expanding coverage to new markets. The goal hasn't changed: help riders stop overpaying by making rideshare pricing transparent.

What Sriram Writes About

Editorial coverage on RideWise spans four core areas. Every article is written or edited by Sriram personally and fact-checked against primary sources per our editorial standards.

Rideshare Pricing Mechanics

How Uber and Lyft calculate fares from base + per-mile + per-minute + booking fee components, why prices shift by city, and where the algorithms diverge.

Airport Rideshare Economics

Pickup zone logistics, airport authority surcharges, and ground-transport alternatives for 47 major US airports — data sourced from airport authority filings and on-the-ground observation.

First-Party Pricing Research

Original ride-tracking experiments and rate-card analysis. Sriram personally collected and analyzed the data behind every first-party study published on RideWise.

Consumer Strategy & Cancellations

How to save money, what fees you can dispute, how cancellation policies actually work, and when to use taxis or transit instead.

Our Data Approach

Every RideWise estimate is built on publicly available data, not opinion. I aggregate rate cards from Uber's published fare pages, Lyft's pricing page, and local taxi commission regulatory filings for supported US markets. The pricing engine factors in base fares, per-mile and per-minute rates, booking fees, airport surcharges, and time-of-day demand patterns.

I validate estimates against actual fare data and update the rate card database monthly as providers adjust pricing. When academic research is available — such as the January 2026 Johns Hopkins Carey Business School study analyzing 2,200+ rides — I incorporate those findings to refine our methodology and editorial content.

For complete transparency on how the data flows, see our methodology page or read about our editorial standards and corrections policy.

About Sriram Manoharan & RideWise — FAQ

Who founded RideWise?

RideWise was founded in 2025 by Sriram Manoharan, a lead software engineer with over a decade of experience building data-driven platforms at The Carlyle Group, Bloomberg, and Haven Technologies. He still maintains the platform himself, including the monthly rate-card refreshes and editorial reviews.

What is Sriram Manoharan's background?

Sriram holds a graduate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has built data platforms in financial technology for over ten years. His prior roles include Lead Software Engineer at The Carlyle Group (global investment platforms), Senior Software Engineer at Bloomberg (financial data systems), and Full Stack Engineer at Haven Technologies (insurtech). He combines that data-platform experience with a daily NYC commuter's perspective on rideshare pricing.

Does RideWise have a team beyond Sriram?

RideWise is a single-founder company. Sriram personally writes editorial content, validates rate-card data, runs first-party tracking experiments, and reviews every published article. The site does not use ghost writers or pen names — every piece is published under a real author byline.

How can I contact Sriram or the RideWise team?

For editorial questions, corrections, or partnership inquiries, email hello@getridewise.com. You can also connect with Sriram on LinkedIn or call (732) 883-6219 during US Eastern business hours. All contact details are on the Contact page.

Is RideWise affiliated with Uber or Lyft?

No. RideWise is an independent consumer tool with no affiliation to Uber Technologies or Lyft, Inc. The site does not earn affiliate commissions on rides booked through its comparisons. Revenue comes from display advertising. Editorial recommendations are made independent of any revenue consideration.

Ready to find the cheapest ride?

Compare Prices Now

Or read more: blog · methodology · editorial standards · contact