This is not true. Uber drivers make tons of money. I know because I was one. The press put a microscope on the subset of drivers who are stupid and can’t make money because they run their businesses poorly. The press is happy to let them tell their son stories but what they don’t mention is that those drivers refuse to drive anywhere outside their immediate area, they drive huge shitty cars that cost literally ten times more per mile to operate than a corolla or Prius, and various other things. There’s this myth floating around that Uber is a trap because the costs of running and maintaining a vehicle is difficult to quantify and all Uber drivers are uneducated people being taken advantage of. This is totally, completely untrue and seeing this myth/meme spread like cancer across the entire internet has opened my eyes to how something that is totally untrue can become widely and vehemently believed. It’s simply not true. I’ve given many thousands of rides. I know. I have a college education and the calculations solidly land within the region of very healthy profit no matter how pessimistic the maintenance projections are and no matter how wide the error margin is made. It’s. A. Fucking. Myth. I genuinely wonder if people will someday understand.
Anyway, drivers make more than enough. After glancing at Uber’s books, it looks like they spent literally a billion dollars on advertising. They also do a a lot of research. Uber could easily run its ride sharing service with room for profit if it wanted to cut back in other areas.
Ride sharing is totally economically viable as a business and it is better than traditional dispatch in almost every way. Companies like Uber aren’t going anywhere. To say that Uber is worthless is flat out wrong. Overvalued or levered or invested-in, yes maybe. But ride sharing is solid. The only thing that could change it is self driving cars.