I read the following NYTimes article about how Uber drivers don't make all that much money, and wondered if their lives could be improved even slightly if there existed a Uber competitor that charged minimal commissions by being non-profit and relying on open source development. If nothing else, it would put a little more pressure on Uber/Lyft to treat their drivers better.
Needless to say, there is no potential for riches. This would be a labor of love.
Would anyone be interested in working on this?
https://nyti.ms/2VKYROJ
Both Uber and Lyft are sinking a lot of that into driverless cars, and of course they're both burning through funds like a drunken binge. You can't compete with free, but free can't compete with negative. When the sun comes up from the rager and the market realizes the big 2 are cash pits instead of cash machines, it'd be nice to be in a position to take over for them.
But until then, you have to be heard over the din. That means you can't give the drivers the full difference, or too few passengers will use your service. Maybe splitting the difference, so instead of a $40 fare going $16 to Uber and $24 to the driver, make it a $32 fare going $30 to the driver and $2 to run overhead (servers, financial overhead).
I could see this being a philosophical dealbreaker, as some people would want the drivers to eat the Uberless overhead to bring cheaper fares (defeats the point for the drivers), and others would want the drivers to keep the Uberless overhead (defeats the point for the passengers).
Requiring drivers to send copies of their Uber and/or Lyft certifications would offload that cost of entry to the competition. That'd work great until Uber or Lyft kicks them off for good reason.
As long as the math makes sense, ping me and I'm game for helping out.