14. The Future of Uber Driverless Radio #14. The Future of Uber - Driverless Radio

Uber was in the news a lot this past week. First, they made positive headlines when they announced that they were expanding their partnerships with health care providers to offer patients rides to doctors' offices (at the doctor office expense). Then they made negative headlines when MIT reported that most ride-sharing drivers make less than minimum wage when you deduct their cost of insurance, maintenance, and fuel.  Finally, Uber announced that they were testing autonomous semi trucks in Arizona. This trucks may give Tesla a run for their money.  in all, a very busy week for the Uber public relations office. And of course, we can't forget the guy in West Virginia who called an Uber after a night of partying. He asked the Uber to take him home and then passed out. Too bad his home was 300 miles away in New Jersey. I'm sure he was surprised when he woke up to a $1,600 bill.

All of these Uber stories offer some very interesting insight into human sociology. However, the doctor's story is probably the most interesting. For decades, passengers have been paying for taxis and more recent ride-sharing services. Autonomous cars may flip this business model. In the future, mobility will probably become more like the Google search engine model.

Most of us do not pay to use Google search engines. It is a free service for consumers. Google makes their money by charging businesses for advertising. The businesses that pay the most for advertising get premier access to customer attention; they show up first in the search results.

Driverless cars will significantly reduce the cost of rideshare services. Once that happens, more businesses will begin to pay the Ubers and Lyfts for business. As an example, downtown restaurants will pay Uber and Lyft rides for customers who go to their restaurants for brunch.

As a customer, when you decide to leave your house, you will be given a few different free options for brunch destinations. Most of us will be more included to select a free ride to a brunch spot than pay a premium price to go to the restaurant of our choosing. This is the future of mobility and it has serious implications for small businesses and our society.