There's also the impact that new competitors will have on existing public transport. As an extreme example, if every well-off bus user switched to using these

There's also the impact that new competitors will have on existing public transport. As an extreme example, if every well-off bus user switched to using these scooters instead, the only bus passengers left would be the poorest. If the service offered discounted tickets for the poor it would be losing money for every customer. I'm not claiming that the status quo should be propped up, but that these sorts of consequences need to be predicted and managed. It seems like this example has a ring of truth when talking about cars rather than scooters.