World Without Uber: DIU's Up 7.5% in Austin
vocativ.com
vocativ.com
I like Uber, Lyft and the like but I seriously only like them because of their vision that once self driving cars are available they become cheaper than owning a car.
The current advantages of Uber versus a cab are marginal, at least from my point of view (western europe, plenty of cabs). I would still always take an Uber if available, but if not I couldn't care less.
There are not plenty of cabs in Austin. Part of what has made Uber so popular is the proliferation and therefore availability of a ride home from a night out. The convenience factor of being able to open your phone and have a ride come for you within minutes beats having to plan your night around leaving at a certain time or committing to a long wait (could easily be an hour or more) for a cab.