In the UK that would be doubling the cost and receiving a much worse service.

Tech workers may be uninstalling Uber in protest in the valley but non-tech people do not know that there is even an issue/scandal.

When I am sharing a ride with friends in London I'm not going to say: "No, I can't share the fare because I uninstalled Uber".

clearly you haven't been in too many third world countries :) try getting a reliable yellow taxi driver in those countries who WON'T try to pull a trick on you :) they exist, but are a minority (or at least not a majority)

ok, what about train-less cities ? i can list 10s of them in third world countries ..

I would rather ride a cycle rikshaw than use Ola, it's pathetic.