I don't think so. In Central America (Guatemala), I get a lot of ex-cab drivers[1]. They say the payment on buying a small car to use for Uber is about 1/3rd of

I don't think so. In Central America (Guatemala), I get a lot of ex-cab drivers[1]. They say the payment on buying a small car to use for Uber is about 1/3rd of their taxi rental payment. Most of them tell me they're earning significantly more. Full time drivers earn 1-2x what a call center worker makes, which is about what a lower-end software dev makes. And all this is after Uber takes a 25% cut (big, but totally justifiable), and rides are about 1/2 the price of taxis. So the alternative is not cab service or pricing. The service can always be superior, just by not having terrible queuing and apps. The pricing should naturally be lower, as taxi companies charge way higher prices. 1: The local cab companies so hilariously mismanaged things they just invited to be destroyed.