I always liken it to using Uber in ~2012. It was fun to get around major metro areas for dirt cheap. But then prices rose dramatically over the next decade+ as the company was forced to wean itself off of VC subsidies.
Consumers pick those services because of what Uber pioneered — trust and convenience. You know exactly how much you pay, you pay everything upfront, you know you are dropped off where you need to be. There are of course exceptions, but exceptions they are.
Cost maybe the initial selling point but people stick with Uber and similar services despite higher cost, not because they don’t have other options.
I really dislike the retro fitting of history. I’ve read more occurrences of serious SA by uber drivers and zero for normal taxi in the last few years