All the Uber scams

Defending taxi drivers, for anyone who frequently uses this public service, is practically impossible, in any city in the world except Tokyo, which resembles a Martian metropolis, where taxi drivers are kind, honest, and efficient. Yet what was supposed to be an alternative to the arrogance and costs of taxis, the famous Uber platform, is proving to be a cure worse than the disease. With a series of broken promises transformed into just as many lies.

Uber was supposed to open the market to competition and lower taxi fares by integrating them with public transportation. More short trips, accessible to everyone, with a three-pronged system: public transportation, taxis, and Uber. In reality, exactly the opposite happened, primarily thanks to the classic internet company ploy: low prices in the initial launch phase, and then price adjustments until they became more expensive than traditional yellow or white cars.

The platform has become a global high-tech giant, with a powerful lobbying power capable of seducing public officials and governments in any country around the world, so much so that it is well-established in over 70 nations. The market penetration mechanism is well-tested and always follows the same pattern. When Uber arrives, to gain consumer and public support and win the tug-of-war with the taxi drivers' corporation, it offers lower fares than traditional taxis, discounts and promotions for those who choose the platform, and a bonus for drivers who sign up and accept rides. This entire castle of promises collapses in an instant, as soon as Uber consolidates its position in the market where it entered. At that point, using algorithms to drive up fares, Uber's prices rise, and during rush hour, they even become higher than traditional taxis; convenience and integration with other public transportation disappear, as do bonuses and promotions. Meanwhile, the drivers become the typical exploited workers and treated with the well-known methods gig economyIn particular, the costs of journeys that should have been more advantageous, i.e. those for long distances, such as for example, become prohibitive. To and from airports: Uber almost always costs more than a traditional taxi, with which it is easy to get a discounted rate through an agreement.

An Published Research by a group of scholars of the Department of Computer Science ofUniversity of Oxford he analysed 1,5 million Uber rides in the UK between 2016 and 2024 and found that:

• After the introduction of a new system of dynamic pricing in 2023, the prices paid by passengers have increased compared to the past.
• The percentage of the fare that Uber keeps (the “take rate”, that is, what the company has left after paying the driver) has increased, making the more expensive trips for the end user.
• In some cases Uber withholds more than half the value of the race because of this algorithmic pricing.

Adjusted for inflation, drivers' hourly earnings dropped from over £22 to just over £19, after deducting operating costs, and drivers are spending more unpaid time waiting for rides than before. Uber's commission has increased from around 25% to 29%, and in some cases, Uber has collected more than half the value of the ride.

Uber drivers are exploited repeatedly. They receive a minimum wage, in some countries like the United States, but it's so paltry as to be fake: €5,64 per hour. They are classified as "independent subcontractors," so they lack any of the protections afforded by employee status with the driver qualification; the requested incentives have always remained on paper. At the same time, Uber has severely damaged taxi drivers, who have to contend with its unfair competition, not so much in terms of fares as in the reduction of license values. Yet, the value of licenses was considered one of the tools municipal administrations could use to offset the damage caused by an increase in local license fees.

A series of studies have certified the damage caused by Uber's lies, which have only enriched its initial investors: traffic in cities where the platform operates has increased, and significantly so; private car ownership has not decreased; passengers have been further driven away from public transportation; harmful emissions have increased; and the conditions of taxi and Uber drivers have only worsened. The end of a false and unsustainable narrative.

In conclusion: the sustainable mobility revolution announced by Uber has never happened. Like so many broken promises, which have become lies told by their high-tech overlords.

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• Car sharing: Milan is now the European capital of this service.
• Milan is increasingly car-free, and in addition to car sharing, scooter-sharing is on the way.