I used Uber for the first time last month to get around in Miami, where I hate to drive myself.
ALL drivers complained about the low pay. That is, what Uber pays them for a trip. All the costs are on them, the driver. They are already talking about unionizing in some form to demand higher payments.
One specific driver who had recently lost his steady job told me that to even approach a living income for Miami, he had to Uber it for 12 hours a day for at least six days to make $400 - $500 in a week.
Most people who use Uber in my circle of friends and family in that city think that Uber will be keeping prices low until they run cabbies out of business, and then they will jack them up to whatever the market can bear. So, what’s the point? Uber represents an advantage in terms of cost right now but next year they will be as pricey as any other form of hired transportation.
Of course, I also predicted that facebook would never make any money and look what is happening there.
Uber is great to make some extra money - for students, for someone with a 9-5 job, and for retirees.
It is not, IMHO, that great for someone looking to replace a full-time job. Uber says that its drivers make about $20/hour (pre-expenses). If you work 40 hours/week, that’s only $800 - and then you have to pay for gas, more oil changes, wear and tear, etc., plus your car depreciates with more miles. So no one is clearing $800/week in that situation.
FWIW, I don’t think that Uber bills itself as a full-time job replacement (though they wouldn’t mind if you wanted to do that). Heck, if one was unemployed, look for a job during the day and work for Uber at night and on weekends.
The secondary attraction is you know exactly where your ride is; no wondering when the cab will show up that you get with traditional service, you can see where that driver is. Plus fares are set before you get in; if the driver decides to go the long way around to deliver you as there's less traffic, you don't pay for that service.
Customer ratings of drivers means you know more about the person picking you up than you'll ever know about any standard cab driver. Plus it is much cheaper for the drivers - a typical cab from a traditional company rents for $600 - $800 a week, $1100 for a lot of the airport vans you see on the road. That's out of the driver's pocket. A lot of cab drivers I know have swapped over to doing Uber as working the same hours, they make more money.