Re: Why does Uber even exist?
"The only reason they can manage to be cheaper is because they ignore employment and tax laws"
Not so much IGNORE, but exploit the 'contractor' loop hole.
Consider that a NORMAL taxi company might have to hire drivers as EMPLOYEES [which means payroll, payroll taxes, OBAKA-CARE, insurance, yotta yotta] as opposed to having the drivers become INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, which eliminates most of that overhead. Actually, it was a pretty good 'hack' to provide a method of 'finding a driver' like that. You'd think that customers and drivers would all 'win'.
However, gummints don't like independent contractors (it causes their tax revenues to go down, and they lose certain levels of control). Having your own corporation makes it a bit easier to be a long term contractor, rather than 1099 (in the USA), but may cost you more overall. Corp-corp contracts are less likely to be scrutinized because of it. But there are some 'unwritten rules' like "pay yourself a salary" or get audited. Yeah. it's like "payola to play".
I saw one case (that personally affected me) where a FORMER independent contractor sued his employer for NOT offering a "wage job". Well, in HIS case, letting his contract expire was kinda like being laid off. But the lawsuit was WON ANYWAY, because he "worked on site" for over a year, and was considered "an employee". So as part of the settlement, ALL of the contractors (me included) had to be 'converted' to employees rather than contractors. That was better in SOME ways, but worse in others.
Anyway, stoopid gummints don't like contractors, and so they'll be looking for a way to make you "play the game" their way by their rules. but since the Uber drivers are in their OWN cars, the gummints don't have much of a case against Uber. So no purchasing expensive taxi licenses since it's "ride sharing", no need for political contributions to limit the number of drivers and keep your company more profitable, etc..
When I went to Las Vegas recently, you had to WAIT IN LINE for a Taxi at the airport. That's unlike any OTHER place I've EVER been... [I'm used to seeing the Taxis line up]