Is anyone else noticing how the prices have gone up?

I’ve been using Uber for an about a year now and it’s been extremely helpful to me as I’m unable to afford a car rn. But why has the prices raised so much. A few months ago I was able to get a ride for about 20 dollars low and 25 dollars high with the save and wait option for 10 mins but tell me why the ride commute has been raised to be a low of 27 and a high of 30 dollars with a now 20 min wait time with the same save and wait option. If it continues like this I will no longer have an affordable way I can get to work.

Are there any other affordable ride share apps I can use that have a good track record?? I’ve also looked into maybe getting uber one with the student discount but will that even help me?

Other additional information my ride is a 17min drive