[gnud]

Hasn't transportation been a service you can buy for ages?

[akgerber]

Yes— but it hasn't been cost-competitive with a driver-owned car for daily drivers (given free/subsidized parking and roadway space, as we have in the US).

[ianferrel]

Yes, but it's changing, which is why the article is about the evolution of that service (and not, say, the creation of that service).