I always considered the people that drive for Uber to be more of a means to an end for Uber. To me Uber wants people getting used to ordering a car service with

I always considered the people that drive for Uber to be more of a means to an end for Uber. To me Uber wants people getting used to ordering a car service with an app and then being driven to their destination. So really having people as drivers is a stop gap measure until they get autonomous vehicles working and the equivalent of "the knowledge" of black cab drivers in London for everywhere else in the world. This is why they track you with the Uber app after you finish your ride, so that they can get the local knowledge stored.