As a consumer, Uber and similar businesses are an enormous net positive. It is a much better experience than taxis. It enabled me and my family to get around.

As a consumer, Uber and similar businesses are an enormous net positive. It is a much better experience than taxis. It enabled me and my family to get around. Even if taxis had a consistent app across cities, the quality of the vehicle tends to be much lower and the drivers are not as kind. That may be just because Uber drivers can be reported much more easily than a taxi driver. For smaller cities with a low taxi density, many Uber drivers treat it as an additional source of income to a primary job and I've had a lot of "stay-at-home" moms pick me up in Rochester NY. In NYC, I've noticed the opposite, with most Uber drivers treating it as a full-time job. Lastly, without Uber, my wife and I would have had to purchase another vehicle. Thanks to Uber, sharing a single vehicle works great when we can't sync up start/end times for work (pre-quarantine).