[zzalpha]

The taxi drivers would get paid more due to having monopolies in most cities and fares would be outrageous.

Uhh... Uber is, like, 5-6 years old in most locales, less in many. This isn't some alternative universe we have to imagine. We just have to think back to before 2010... you know, the before time. The long long ago.

And back then, taxi rates were hardly "outrageous". Hell, even today, Uber isn't necessarily that much cheaper in a lot of places.

[arbie]

In sparsely populated areas, taxis are sometimes even cheaper. In cities, though, it's not even a contest. Ride-sharing is 2x to 3x cheaper than a taxi in my limited dataset.