Right - they've dropped the franchise cost to zero. Look - taxis suck. They suck a lot. And they're vampires. But Uber makes money by breaking the law, and for the stuff I need taxis for (getting to and from the airport) Uber doesn't show up because they know they'll be ticketed thousands of dollars. Taxi medallions are expensive. Taxi services also pay a lot in fees that I end up not paying in taxes. Which Uber doesn't pay. Which will, eventually, raise my taxes. It doesn't take a genius to notice that Uber succeeds because taxis suck. That doesn't mean they get to raise my taxes, ride around without insurance, hire criminals and generally be bad operators. Know who sucks less than Uber? Lyft. Know who's losing the illegal taxi battle? Lyft. Know why? Because when your business model is illegal, scruples are a liability.