Taxi drivers will rejoice.
Uber may go the way of MySpace, and Alta Vista, but like those two trial blazers another variant will soon be along. But you can be sure that variant won't be the taxi cab.
Got a B and H taxi last year from Concorde 2 to the station - over £8 !!!
Happy to get fly by nighters now on for such a short journey
As has happened here in Sydney.
As well as Uber we now also have Bolt (Lithuania) & Ola (India).
With Didi (China) & Lyft (USA) about to enter the market very shortly.
Most of the drivers drive for all the ride-sharing companies but are now favoring Ola as their commission take is substantially lower than the rest.
Ola are the cheapest for the rider too and they constantly tout promotional discounts even for existing customers.
For the last 3 months they've been offering trips to & from Sydney Airport that are within 20km (12 miles) capped at $25 (£14) and that short journey can take well over an hour through rush hour.
I imagine the final winner in this battle won’t become apparent until fully autonomous cars are available. At that point I can foresee the major car manufacturers moving into the market. Their business model will pivot from cars sales to car hire, with fleets offering lift services via subscriptions similar to those of mobile phone operators. Ultimately Ford or some unknown Chinese firm will become the dominant player.
Car ownership will become a thing of the past, only the wealthy will continue to operate their own personal cars on the road, Although self driven will likely become illegal on public roads, those who want to drive themselves will be restricted to private tracks only.
As ubiquitous car ownership goes the way of historical horse ownership, the knock on effect will be a massive freeing up of street space as parked cars disappear, meaning kids can once again play football and cricket in the streets as we did in the 80s.