I'm pretty sure that creating a fleet of self driving cars operating on dynamic dispatch would have worldwide ramifications. But I see your point re public transport.
That must be a different company. The Uber I know is that evil company lead by incredibly arrogant *ssholes trying to aggressively price-dump taxi drivers (that don't make a lot of money to begin with) out of their jobs by employing-but-not-really-employing a cheap workforce without paying their part on the drivers insurances. Basically an illegal taxi business ;)
Yes, that's the story that people like Evgeny Freidman paint, when they started seeing their rent-seeking investment - buying medallions and charging drivers hundreds of dollars to rent them so that they could work - begin to drop.
The average rate a cabbie paid to take a taxi out for a 12-hour shift climbed 11 percent, to about $85, between 1990 and 1993 (...) In 1993, 32 to 45 percent of the income of a fleet or lease manager was profit, or $16,000 to $21,300 per car, up from $5,500 to $9,800 in 1986, according to the taxi commission.
Lease drivers rent the medallions, and usually the taxis, for a day or a week from their owners or a middleman. Depending on the owner and the night of the week, a lease driver pays $72 to $100 to take a car out for a 12-hour shift, or about $450 to $650 for a weekly lease. The driver must also pay for gas, at $15 to $20 a night. Drivers keep whatever fares and tips they collect, but they often start a day's work $100 or more behind.
Please don't take this as me defending Uber, I agree with your general sentiment, but your salient argument against them is a bit misleading. Almost all taxi companies in major cities in the U.S. use a similar "employment" model for the drivers. Honestly, the only major differences between Uber and the old school firms is technology, customer support, and ubiquity. Uber is no more abussive really to drivers and is also just as corrupt (maybe in slightly different ways, but still the same level).
Except then dynamic dispatch won't be fast enough, so they or a competitor will have a fleet of self driving cars driving around 24/7 most of the time empty so that there is always a nearby car ready.
The kind of market "efficiency" seen in the housing market where huge amount of property is left empty.
