Good luck with the co-op idea.
The problem is that drivers feel like their services are worth a lot, and passengers simply don't believe it. The reason why Uber is a success is that they created new demand by dropping prices. Everyone I know, including myself, would never have taken an Uber as frequently as we do if the prices were as high as taxis.
You can't replicate this unless you keep pushing prices down, and this is what Uber is doing.
So, as long as drivers want to keep their prices high, the riders won't come, which will prevent more drivers from entering the co-op, which will mean riders will wait a long time before their drivers arrive, which means they will just go to Uber, etc. The co-op will never reach critical mass that way and will fail.
The article doesn't even mention the massive amounts of driver incentives that they pour back into the drivers. One driver told me that if they worked 2 hrs during rush hour, Uber would guarantee $50/hr. That's $100 for 2 hrs worth of work, which is pretty damn good and makes the rest of the day less stressful about trying to hit your numbers to become profitable.