I hate tipping for Uber drivers. It has made the rides so much more awkward, where the entire subtext of the (verbal/nonverbal) conversation becomes "what will my tip be".
I read on the Uber Driver's forums that many (the majority, going by the polls) will now be rating riders lower by default and then increasing the rating after a tip has been received.
I've since basically stopped using Uber. Between the increased prices since legislation was introduced here in Toronto, the drop in driver quality as more of the taxi drivers move to Uber, the forced surge pricing by colluding groups of drivers and now the expectation of tips it has essentially lost all of its appeal to me.
The off-hours public transit, which was once made unattractive by Uber, has returned to being my default go-to for now.
Never in anything I have read about Uber has there been anything more clear than the fact the Uber drivers make a pittance -- nothing near a fair wage.
Just like in the restaurant field, where if they price service into the menu, the perceived pricing uptick is enough to make people think restaurant dining is unaffordable. Sure it's worked for one restaurant, but the owner does not intend to bring the practice to his other restaurants.
Eventually tipping culture will crop up around ride share services and everyone will know how to be a good citizen in that space, and assholes will be free to be assholes.
So the alternative is not cab service or pricing. The service can always be superior, just by not having terrible queuing and apps. The pricing should naturally be lower, as taxi companies charge way higher prices.
1: The local cab companies so hilariously mismanaged things they just invited to be destroyed.