[adjkant]

It was driven by Uber needing to become profitable and either having to raise ride prices (and lose customers) or lower driver cuts. If there was an abundance of drivers you'd see Ubers/Lyfts waiting around with no one in them constantly, which is not my experience based on wait times in major metropolitan cities (NYC, Boston, SF, LA), where drivers usually are booked for the next ride before they even drop me off.

It's also misinformation and deceptive advertising by Uber and others that don't educate drivers on the real costs of driving for them when it comes to gas, car wear and tear, surge pricing models and how it affects them, etc.

[rightbyte]

It was a similar story in London where people borrowed money for cars, then Uber cut pay stranding people with loans.

Uber seems to use "incentives" and some kind of quest system rather than just paying the drivers the full amount. It's similar to bonus systems on casinos, where the goal is to keep the player hooked.