On Lyft and Uberx

Just read the long comment threads behind the recent article on Uber that got HNed https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8165857

The true reasons behind the anger and animosity exhibited against Uber and Lyft was not clear.
People said that the ceos are a-holes that the companies abuse laws etc that all they are looking is exit strategies etc. All that is in my view irrelevant. People could make the same comments for many successful startups that have comparably arrogant characters a founders/ceos and that break all kinds of laws and rules during their assent. For one Airbnb is an obvious such example.. Still articles _on HN_ about airbnb typically bring positive reviews. (the case about calling them "slamlords" in the thread's comments is an exception... than the rule).
So whats diff between airbnb and uber.
Uber will result in the death of the taxicab profession which will involve in a significant negative effects for 100Ks (239K in US?) taxi drivers. Hotel owners (the corresponding group that is feeling the pinch from airbnb's ascent) is not a large-population profession - most hotels are large chains contrary to taxicabs that are owned and operated by individuals or SMBs.
In my view even after Uber and Lyft provided all the necessary elements (commercial insurance coverage, background checks, vehicle checks and qualification criteria) it will still be a much less costly option than taxis. The primary reason is simple
Because by today, the computer-aided driver can perform perfectly the job of a taxi-driver without any special training - so there is no reason what soever that they should be paid more than other professions that pay for in-experienced workers. If in some place in the world it costs $10/hr to hire a McDonald cashier there is no reason why a taxi driver would be getting more.  (I am excluding here any costs related to car owning/maintaining - I am assuming these can be the same for both taxi cabs as well as uber/lyft drivers (except look at secondary reason). The taxi driver is expected to be polite, reliable, and courteous. They are given the opportunity to drive in an environment they control (contrary to McDonalds). They can decide the last moment whether they want to clock in or not. They can dress up as they see fit. They are sitting in a chair (possibly listening to their own music) while the McDonalds person is standing up accepting new orders every minute. They have a less stressfull environment (having worked at a cantene as well as driven in a big city for years - I can attest that busy times at a cantene are much more stressfull. Probably the only stress for a taxi-driver is fighting or stopping in the middle of the street to grab a customer - sth that gets eliminated with the app-booking uber and lyft.
In summary in every way I see Uber and Lyft are better deals compared to other minimum hourly professions - and given that Lyft drivers are independent contractors... not Lyft employees... I would expect their hourly rate to drop below the minimum hourly rate...

The secondary reason (I am slightly less confident about this logic by the way) is that taxi-cab demand has sufficient flunctuations around peak times which imply that dedicating the resources of a person and a car full time is counter productive. This is quite known already - and the reason for the many part-timers among taxi-cab drivers. However, reusing a car that serves a different purpose the rest of the time
makes even more sense : based on any total cost of ownership - you should expect to pay 100s of dollars for a car per month (as little as $200 most probably closer to $500). If you intend to drive for a lyft just 4hrs/day - the peak times... and your time cost $10/hr + gas at $4/hr (assuming sth like a prius) (based on the primary reason above) the cost of a fully dedicated car would canother $6/hr. ($500 / 80 hrs = $6/hr) and bring it to $20. Lyft and UberX can bring the cost down by almost 30% compared to std Uber/taxi dedicated cars even after the driver's rates are brought down to minimum hourlies...


All that doesn't mean that we wont have people that drive other people for money. Most probably we will have many more than before (til the self driving vehicle comes). It means that the profession of a taxi-driver will cease to exist - just like we don't think any longer working at McDonalds as the FastFoodClerk as a profession.