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Uber didn't exist 10 years ago, and taxis are still around so clearly Uber hasn't _completely_ wiped them out in that period. I'm mostly an Uber user now, but
by ajdlinux 7y ago
Uber didn't exist 10 years ago, and taxis are still around so clearly Uber hasn't _completely_ wiped them out in that period.
I'm mostly an Uber user now, but even I still end up in a taxi on (very rare) occasions at home and more often when travelling and unable to use Uber or another ridesharing app for some reason.
There's also a decent population of older people who don't use rideshare apps and depend on the taxi system (I write from the perspective of an Australian, not a Londoner, but I'm guessing it may be similar there).
- makomk 7y agoOther private hire companies existed 10 years ago, they were just generally telephone based rather than internet-based.
- jason0597 7y agoAdd to that that then-telephone-only private hire companies are moving to the internet, you're now left with the question of what makes Uber better than another private hire company
- isostatic 7y agoUbiquity -- Uber works in London, but it also works in Manchester, and Cardiff, and New York, and Sydney Addison Lee works in London.
- ajdlinux 7y agoAnd generally more expensive luxury private hire services rather than cheaper-than-taxi hire services, as UberX typically is.
- stuaxo 7y agoUber has almost completely wiped these out. There used to be loads of taxi offices, you would go in and talk to a human and outside you would get into a taxi. Now, the offices still exist - but if you go in, it's just an empty room with a phone for you to speak to some central room. Uber has killed all these small businesses.