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> What if instead of all these nitpicking changes, they kept the fares a bit higher and simply paid the drivers a bit more?

Drivers would still yearn and push for tips.

It's an established industry practice and drivers assume that most people will tip if asked, so by not asking they are leaving money on the table.

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It's really unfortunate how that is the case in the US particularly. I moved to Japan and was shocked at how the service is in Japan compared to the states (particularly restaurants). All the employees work hard to please customers because that's what they're paid to do (and often less than the SF bay area where I'm from). Going back to the US I can feel waiters/waitresses trying to please me to get higher tips or just essentially pretend I don't exist if they think I won't tip well. This arose once when I was playing poker in a casino and only one of the 3 people who ordered drinks tipped. The lady never came back (45 minutes) after that and when the player asked in an agitated voice he was kicked out of the game.

The reason that Japan and the US act differently is not due to tips but due to culture. In the US if there's some kind of issue that person will likely complain but unless it's egregious they probably will return to wherever it happened. In Japan, however, generally one mistake costs the business that customer forever without the customer complaining directly about it. Additionally, remember that it's not the employee's fault that there are tips, it's the employers and the US society that expects it (consider restaurants that removed tips often bring them back) and the employee is just working within that construct.

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