Congestion as business model

What is your business model is to take time (and related productivity) from other road users?

I have notice a growing discussion on congestion in Brisbane. Brisbane commuters during morning peak are travelling at less than 30km per hour. The data shows changes in average speed across the major commuter corridors. from 2016 to 2017.

Source: Greater Brisbane Key Corridors Performance Report

Half of the corridors have experienced decreases in AM and PM peak periods. Interestingly, PM peaks predominantly experienced increases in travel speed but the largest reduction in travel speed is the Stanley St PM peak.

My hypothesis is that ride share growth is having significant impact on inner city congestion and part of the profit of these companies is the theft of time (and related productivity) from other road users.

An San Francisco study found that Uber and Lyft were responsible for half of the 60% increase in congestion from 2010 to 2016. Specifically, they found that the difference in travel times in congested conditions versus travel times in a free-flowing scenario — which they characterize as “vehicle hours of delay” — increased by 62 percent. Average speeds in San Francisco decreased by 13 percent in the time period. By contrast, in a simulated model that removes Uber and Lyft from the equation, weekday vehicle hours of delay increased by only 22 percent and average speeds decreased by 4 percent in the city.

How would you tell whether a business was functioning (although these businesses are not profitable) as a transferer of time (and related productivity) from one group to another?