Ride-share companies post billions in losses annually

Why do Uber, Lyft, Didi, OLA, and other ride-sharing companies want to partner with public transport agencies?

For Uber and Lyft, the reason is simple: their business plans were based on eventually using driverless vehicles to eliminate their main cost, the labour cost of the driver. But human drivers won’t be replaced for some time.

While many of these companies have raised lots of cash from venture capitalists, they are burning though it at an alarming rate. Uber made a loss of US$8.8 billion in 2022. Lyft, Uber’s main competitor in the United States, lost US$1.28 billion.