Let me offer a bit of anecdotal evidence in response. Where I live, there are about 4 major competitors "Uber" services, and everyone that I know that regularly uses them, just uses whatever is cheapest at any given point. Usually it is to do with what campaign or promo code has been given most recently.
My observation is that, yes for the general public there may be only "Uber" or traditional taxis, but those are the people that never use it in the first place.
> Platforms win out because of user familiarity, not because they're necessarily the cheapest option.
Uber is not a platform for the user. It is a service for basic transportation that costs money, and all car hailing apps offer similar enough experiences with different price tags depending on how fast the company is throwing money away.
My observation is that, yes for the general public there may be only "Uber" or traditional taxis, but those are the people that never use it in the first place.
> Platforms win out because of user familiarity, not because they're necessarily the cheapest option.
Uber is not a platform for the user. It is a service for basic transportation that costs money, and all car hailing apps offer similar enough experiences with different price tags depending on how fast the company is throwing money away.