I don't think people are typically making a spreadsheet and plotting out whether or not this is really cheaper or more expensive. What's happening is either: a

I don't think people are typically making a spreadsheet and plotting out whether or not this is really cheaper or more expensive. What's happening is either: a) They don't have a car (or a second car) currently, they spend $X/mo on Uber, and they don't think that they could get a car they'd want to drive and/or park and/or deal with for that same amount of money. OR b) They know that they have a car sitting in their driveway / street / etc. and they're currently spending $X per month on it to mostly sit there idle, and they're pretty sure that they'd save money not using it, so they try a month of just Uber and sure enough, it cost them less than the idling car (or they just liked it better, whatever). People think a lot about yuppies in the city as the Uber crowd, but in my experience Uber / Lyft is far more impactful on families. Instead of needing 1 car per adult to function, you may need only 1 car per household, or maybe 2 cars for a family with kids in high school (as compared to what we used to call the "used car lot" in front of all the High School kids houses back when I was growing up in the burbs).