Edit: Maybe I goofed, mattmcknight accurately points out that in many cities the taxi medallion is the most expensive part of the taxi equation. I'm not intimately familiar with Uber; do drivers still have to obtain medallions in their respective cities?
However, the structure was created for old style limos: I.e. fat cat or prom kid books for hours, days in advance, not competitive with a taxi.
One could reasonably argue booking an uber 1 minute before pickup for a ten minute ride is a lot more like a taxi than a limo.
Note I am not criticizing Uber, as they clearly are obeying the law! But to some it looks like they are skirting it, benefiting from a loophole.
- permit (medallion, whatever)
- labour
- write-off on the taxi
- taxes
- fuel, tires
- insurance
- inspection
- credit card processing fees
Top all of that off with a healthy profit otherwise your taxi operator goes out of business quickly.
All of these to a greater or lesser extent contribute to the costs and result in a price-per distance unit (mile/km) driven and a wait tarif.
Taxis have considerable down-time between jobs so utilization is a factor as well.