The paper actually seems to be trying to make the point that Uber drivers are gaming the tax system because their actual costs are lower than the IRS allowance.
$0.30 seems like a fairly reasonable number and it also matches up well with renting a car that's intended to be driven for a week like this and just buying gas for it. (There's also some cost associated with deadheading to the next pickup.)
The $0.59/mile revenue does seem a bit low. UberX or Lyft would seem to typically have pricing in the neighborhood of $1.00 to $1.50 per mile of which about 75% goes to the driver. So $1/mile would seem likely to be a better revenue number in which case the net is more like $0.70/mile and I would have to believe most drivers, even in a larger city, are driving 10 miles or more in a typical hour.
I doubt driving for these services is a huge win once all costs are taken into account but it seems closer to being a minimum wage job than a total bust.