I'm not sure I agree. My idea of "fixing the Uber problem" is increasing the payout to drivers so they can afford a hotel room at the end of a 14 hour shift. This will directly improve the conditions of Uber drivers, at least.
1. increase Uber's already sizable losses, causing the business to fail
2. increase the cost of a fare, leading to fewer rides and forcing drivers to find other employment
3. increase the cost of a fare, but have little impact on rider numbers because fares were already too low, making everyone happy
If it's option 3, then that's great. But if that's the case, why did Uber originally lower fares?
EDIT: should probably add that I support a UBI to solve this. I'm not suggesting that sleeping in your car after a 14 hour shift is good, or right.
Subsidize with investor money to try to drive competitors out of business?
I mean, I understand that uber started because the taxi market was protectionist. But on the other hand, do taxi drivers have better pay and a better union? Often, yes. There may be a middle ground here.
(* note that this argument applies to a lot of the gig-economy jobs out there, including lyft, doordash, and so on, not just Uber)
Is that a livable wage? I'm not sure, but it's higher than minimum wage. Does it make Uber sustainable? I'm not sure, but it arguably makes it more sustainable than Walmart.
Why does everything need to pay a living wage? Uber driving is so easy that there must be a sizeable population of people that are willing to do it for less than a 'living wage' (retirees, students, housewives who want to get out of the house once, unemployed people between jobhunting).
I do it myself a few times a week just because I like driving, even though it pays literally 8x less than my day job.
I taught fitness classes a few times a week for years part time because I enjoyed it. It definitely wasn't for the money.
Or they will need to adjust and find another way, like all businesses do. Or they will fail and someone else will find a better way. That's what the free market is about.
It's an old trope that if you increase costs on a business, it's passed along to customers or someone else. That's not how economics works; businesses have many options, they aren't locked into their way of doing things (again, that 'free market').
One question I always have is, why should I care if Uber succeeds or fails? They openly disdain caring about anyone else, including their drivers and the laws of the communities where they operate. I care about their workers, but what does Uber itself matter to me?
If you really came through with the extra pay I think they still sleep in their cars and bank the difference.