Core Uber fixes dispatch. As a driver and potential user, I have a ton of minor issues with the implementation (future posts). However, the proof is in the user acceptance. Users (riders) love Uber. Because of pricing, they love Uberx more than the other Uber offerings. I believe without Uberx, they would still love Uber. Smarter folk than me will have to figure the price elasticity of livery service.
I am 100% convinced the Uber dispatch model will come to dominate the livery industry.
Currently, DC Metro has a chaotic mix of ride providers servicing the ride consumer community. Data is not shared. There is no single place one can go to find ride usage patterns.
My vision here is, once everyone is on Uber like technology, the ride provider community can establish a data sharing cooperative which tracks demand throughout the Metro area. The cooperative maintains the confidentiality of the source data but provides aggregate statistics to the entire ride provider community. This type of anonymous data sharing is common in industry.
Individual ride providers (Uber included of course because they are just another member of the data sharing coop) can use the data to make tactical decisions on how to deploy their drivers. This should be real time. The ride provider companies would be able to track demand and call upon their part time drivers to provide surge capacity. P2P drivers working for traditional livery companies on a surge basis is a logical extension of the Uberx model.
With the data from the coop, companies can plan campaigns to expand usage in underserviced areas. Right now the focus is on the metropolitan core. However, I believe the Uberx model can greatly reduce the incidence of two and three car households in the suburbs when appropriately implemented.
The next logical extension of this idea is a unified dispatch service where riders get to choose among brands.
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