Uber shifts the relationship from rider <-> taxi company, to rider <-> Uber. This places a significant responsibility on Uber to create a high quality rider experience. If you book a car and the driver doesn't show up repeatedly, Uber will remove that driver.
Uber also fields customer service, meaning you're not trying to call into a one man shop to argue for a refund with whoever happened to pick up your ride that day. You're talking with Uber.
Some cities, such as NYC, have created their own structure around taxis, but in many cities it's a complete guess as to the quality of service you'll get when you call a local cab company.
This is the exact same playbook as Doordash, Seamless, Taskrabbit, Airbnb, or any of the other gig economy platforms. They're vastly more than just software. They're certainly different from software provided to independent operators, though individual people can come to their own determination of whether or not that is "better."
Uber also fields customer service, meaning you're not trying to call into a one man shop to argue for a refund with whoever happened to pick up your ride that day. You're talking with Uber.
Some cities, such as NYC, have created their own structure around taxis, but in many cities it's a complete guess as to the quality of service you'll get when you call a local cab company.
This is the exact same playbook as Doordash, Seamless, Taskrabbit, Airbnb, or any of the other gig economy platforms. They're vastly more than just software. They're certainly different from software provided to independent operators, though individual people can come to their own determination of whether or not that is "better."