Public transit works if large amounts of people move along predictable routes at predictable times, and the immense cost of infrastructure and operation is spre

Public transit works if large amounts of people move along predictable routes at predictable times, and the immense cost of infrastructure and operation is spread among a large pool. People desiring additional control and comfort can use personal vehicles, and use publicly-subsidized roadways, but fuel taxes, licensing fees, and tolls recoup a small portion of this cost from the operator. As the article points out, newer car-hire services mount the most unfortunate competition, because they take advantage of the low costs of private vehicles' road use, and then turn around to collect a fare from each user, which, depending on market conditions, may or may not even result in an operating profit. While these are comfortable for their occupants, they clog up the streets more so than personal-use vehicles, which don't need to patrol the town when their driver is occupied. The fact that the likes of Uber notoriously ignore local regulations hurts even more. These car hire services pay the same way as private vehicles do, but the marginal difference between their usage goes not to the government's coffers, but to private operators.