[mcculley]

Your experience with calling cabs from the phone is much better than mine. Perhaps that is where you live. I'm in Central Florida and have had similar poor experiences when traveling. Glancing at my phone and knowing how far away the cab is is a lot more convenient than being told it will arrive in 20-45 minutes and watching for it and not being able to make good use of the waiting time.

As for paying, it's a big deal to me. Being able to just exit the car at the end of the ride is a lot nicer than waiting for the driver to scan my card, sign the receipt, etc.

These two small things greatly reduce the friction and make me more likely to use a cab over other options.