To paraphrase Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, free markets don't eliminate the need for government; they minimize the extent to which government needs participate directly in the game.
However, government is still essential to deciding the “rules of the game” and in interpreting and enforcing those rules.
This is a limited time promotion. The Muni price is a long term price. After a while, lyft and uber will bring their prices back up. It will be a shame if any muni services are lost in the meantime because people stupidly believe that these are long term prices.
Lyft's normal line price is frequently (slightly) cheaper for my wife and I than Muni. Of course, during heavy demand times or for longer rides, muni wins, and I certainly would not want it to go away!
I think long term something like robot driven 6-rider lyft-line style vans is probably the future of public transit (hopefully) :)
However, government is still essential to deciding the “rules of the game” and in interpreting and enforcing those rules.