You are misinformed. If you had followed both companies from the beginning, you would know that Uber started with licensed drivers - even UberX started that way with only cheaper cars - and it was lyft who broke the city ordinances by using unlicensed drivers under the disguise of tipping-as-payment. Uber refused to do it, until they realized the governments were not enforcing the laws at all. The case in Miami is the best example of it, as pointed out by malandrew in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15686983. This is covered in the book "Wild Ride: Inside Uber's Quest for World Domination".

As many drivers in the lyft reddit point out, lyft just want you to believe it's more ethical, when it is far from the truth. It's also sad some people here draw conclusion from talking to drivers, often lyft drivers only, without considering there is huge survival bias.