you do realise the $300,000 - $600,000 they were thinking of spending on a public transport system would have mostly gone to private companies, right? A modern public transport system is typically provided by a plethora of private companies that provide the buses, the driver consoles and smartcard services that also require a monthly/yearly subscription for maintenance and data consolidation.

The story here is of uber eating up ~$300,000 that would have gone to other private companies in the past. The result is that residents of this town get more responsive transport at potentially any hour that is more direct and often cheaper. The residents win here. This is a feel good story IMO.