Shirley a better system for the drivers would be a modern equivalent of minicab drivers renting a radio.
I cabbed in the 80s for a while, drivers typically had a choice of several cab firms to rent a radio from and would obviously go for those companies that had the best controllers and traffic.
Back then I paid a straight forty quid a week for a radio, so a subscription service to provide fares to drivers should work, with the drivers being required to have a local license they would then become self employed and the likes of Uber would have less problems.
Ride prices might go up a little but in the best US free market traditions, everything would find its own level.