Depends on the time of day - Hackney cabs during the day in Zones 1 and 2 were good (though only if you had a good chunk of cash before they all had to have car

Depends on the time of day - Hackney cabs during the day in Zones 1 and 2 were good (though only if you had a good chunk of cash before they all had to have card readers), whereas private hire was better for those 2am trips home from some Zone 4 random location. I'm not a fan of Uber specifically, but they certainly do blend together (most of) the best of both worlds for London cab use I've experienced. I'd also argue that the Night Tube was really helped by their prevalence, so they've made even public transport better as a result (as a traveller, rather than an operator).