This is a really elementary misunderstanding of free market principles. That theory only holds if the market is actually free.

As an extreme example, if they regulated minimum $1000 per ride. No logical person, free market oriented or not, would expect "alternatives" to take their place.

> That theory only holds if the market is actually free.

That was my point, since in fact no market is free

Could you give an example of such a truly free market so we have a common baseline for a discussion?