What their present model shows, though, is the increased efficiency of high-bandwidth signalling between customer (rider) and provider (driver).
Taxis had previously relied on radio dispatch, which was better than on-street hailing, but essentially had a single blocking communications stream between drivers and central dispatch, with high wait times for channel space, relatively high error rates in transmission, and (compared to digital dispatch) low total bandwidth and precision.
The Uber/Lyft model is famous for bypassing medallions (though I suspect those will re-emerge). But it also replaced an obsolete dispatch channel which incumbents had failed to innovate on (reasons for which might be worth investigating).
I don't know whether the dispatch was the bottleneck. How would we figure that out?
(But having to talk to a human dispatcher over the phone would eg put me off a bit. More than checking how much the uber is on my smartphone. And once I'm in the app to compare prices to my other options, ordering is only a tap away.)
