Local taxis are perhaps only more expensive due to Uber burning VC cash to compete? Public transport is barely used in the USA perhaps but that's not the only

Local taxis are perhaps only more expensive due to Uber burning VC cash to compete? Public transport is barely used in the USA perhaps but that's not the only market Uber needs to compete in to succeed. And this isn't taking into account Uber's many run-ins with local authorities, which are dragging on , costing money and have the possibility to shut them out of some markets. From what I understand Uber's main answer to this is "autonomous taxis" but to me that's a long way from being a viable business model.