Drivers and vehicles are by far the biggest expense in operating a taxi service, not matching, ordering, and navigation. The only way Uber was ever going to make sense was if software could eat the drivers, but they effectively gave up on that and it's looking like it won't happen any time soon. We've already long had "better tech" for moving large numbers of passengers between popular destinations in a city: trains and buses. But they're still not profitable and require public investment. Uber as a public service could probably work, but then no one could get rich transferring wealth from late-stage investors to early-stage investors.