I like and support the sentiments you have after chatting with an Uber driver. There is a way to strip away all the fees that Uber cuts out from drivers' compensation and yet make money.
I am technical and have been thinking about doing something in this space. If you are interested, we should connect.
-Ben bensaini7@gmail.com
Low wages for drivers starts with consumers wanting cheap trips. so you'll need to find a way to become cheaper than uber. The most reasonable way to do that(and the way that would win, i think) is through ride-sharing.
But people don't really like to share rides, as far as i can tell. So maybe if you find a way to make people like shared rides , and use that outside of the confines of uber, maybe you'll have something to build on. Oh, and you need to aim towards something like uberXL size, and filling it.
The other path is becoming a professional driver, driving a mini-bus/jitney - much cheaper cost per passenger - which will see greater demand by apps like moovex,@ridewithvia , @ridechariot. but here, on top of marketing, one big limit is the costs of vehicles involved.