Besides that I would rather walk than ever take public transit, I agree; Uber is comparable in price and definitely (much, sometimes 5-8x, but mostly 3x) cheaper than regular taxis. Public transit, in my mind, should be gov owned and be free, but I know a know that won't happen any time soon. So then I would always prefer Uber. Yesterday I had some snafu with my Uber registered phone number and had to take a normal cab in Hongkong; crap old car, pissed off driver, tried to take another route and more expensive than an Uber Black. Sorry, but how does that work? I sit in a dangerous vehicle that in my country probably would not pass ITV vs a monster of a new Toyota Vellfire or Audi A8 for
more money???
In the UK when I travel with my colleagues an Uber is frequently not much more expensive and sometimes cheaper than public transit; I really don't get why people pay for that stuff if you can get door to door while being able to work in quiet and comfort. It's basically like a private driver for the price of a few train tickets...
The most heard complaint is that public transit is more reliable and no traffic jams... But a warm/or AC car, quiet and comfortable is a work place you can trust; I don't mind jams in those. I do mind standing in a station for a cancelled train with 2000 of my best friends in the rain and then not even getting to the door of my destination for (almost) the same price...
So I do think Uber does entice more cars on the streets; I am not sure if that's the case right now, but I definitely see that it is possible.
Edit: on the other hand, if I would live close to / in a city with Uber, I would not buy a car... I use it way too little to warrent the hassle. I have no idea if there are more people who have that though; seems people still have this thing about owning a car even if it makes no sense. That's not some judgement; it makes sense in very many cases but it doesn't for me and it doesn't for many others but still they have one or two :)