Uber is the highest valued private company in the world, more than Airbnb SpaceX. Everyday, 15 million rides are taken across 600 cities in 78 countries everywhere. From the southern tip of Africa to the tiny town of Gridley; California- home of the red suspenders festival. Uber is so successful because it's so convenient; open the app and choose a ride standard or luxury or in India rickshaw. Soon even flying taxi. Afterwards, you rate the driver and they rate you one through four stars being the worst experience of your life and five stars anywhere from mostly tolerable to absolutely amazing.
How does uber calculate the price?? It's really very simple. Start with a regular base fare, add the per minute rate multiplied by time spent in car plus distance times the per mile rate. All of which depend on the city, a $40 ride in Tokyo costs $1 62 in Cairo. Then, at the booking fee and possibly Airport toll cancellation, cleaning and lost item fees unless there are too many riders and not enough drivers. In which case, multiply it by a surge price to 3 or on New Year's Eve 7 times the normal price and as youtubers have shown algorithms can be manipulated if drivers log out at the same time. They create a shortage and trigger a surge. It also uses machine learning to predict how much you're willing to pay based on route.
Uber is almost always cheaper, faster and easier. It took the most outdated inefficient industry sprinkled in something called technology and completely reinvented the wheel. Uber is revolutionary; the low prices of last century plus the magic of these things and for drivers; well yes and no. If you ask over what the average driver makes an hour, they point you to this study. $19.99 when not too bad unless you look under the hood. What they don't include are the car, it's depreciation, maintenance, gas and some of the insurance. Adjusting for these and things aren't so rosy. The median hourly profit is 855 before taxes less than minimum wage for 54% of drivers. 8% actually lose money.
But, Uber is supplementary; a quick
way to make some extra cash between jobs and that's mostly true. About 60% have another primary income. Plus unlike taxis who are even legally required to wear black socks in LA, with Uber you have some freedom. But, the reason people don't drive more might only be, they can't because Uber considers its drivers not employees, but independent contractors. Employees are entitled to minimum wage, gas reimbursement, overtime breaks, collective bargaining, paid leave and health insurance which would cost the company about four billion dollars a year. So, they're extremely careful to call drivers as partners and itself not a transportation company but a platform simply connecting riders to drivers who decide when to work, what to wear and so on. But, uber controls the prices and that's the catch. If drivers are just independent businesses, Uber setting their fares could be considered. 
Something doesn't add up the golden age for
drivers who came from regulating competition. The same regulation uber spends millions of dollars fighting going back to the days of high competition and low prices. But, what if uber takes a cut from drivers, their interests should be the same. Regulation of course slows its growth. But, there's also another reason drivers compete. But, Uber makes the same commission, regardless of who picks you up. Uber makes more money with more drivers. But, drivers want the opposite; less competition- they look like other platform vendor relationships Amazon and its sellers Apple and app developers. Both of which need their vendors. If YouTube leaves the App Store, Apple can't replace it. But, drivers are drivers. Uber needs them but no one in particular. They're disposable. Something like 96% stopped driving for the company in their first year. The two seem economically intertwined.
But, as long as Uber can find more drivers, they can keep fares unsustainably competitive; with rivals- the real winners of the Haws act. Weren't cab drivers who can't afford million-dollar medallions, but their owners instead of drivers giving away their first $100 a day to rent a medallion. Now it's 25% all day for many drivers. It's still a very welcome and useful opportunity. But, it isn't quite the groundbreaking revolution that promised and it may not last on paper. Uber has the perfect business model; it's huge network of drivers who dominate the globe. But, it need not buy a single car or gallon of fuel. All perk and no work. Something thousands of startups desperately try to emulate. Most of which belong on flop starter with products like the timeless watch which doesn't tell the time.