> They will drive to your location, pick you up, and take you anywhere you want to go.
The corrected version of this is "they will drive to your location some time within the next 24 hours, pick you up if you want to go to the places they want to go, and maybe accept payment in credit card".
Go on. Ask a brown person who lives by Lake Merced what it's like to try to get a taxi there from downtown.
Also, to be clear, I don't have a problem with this. I think you should have a right to transport whomsoever you desire if you can reach a consensual agreement.
But I don't think it's consensual if you ban the alternative.
Rideshares have their own cost and reliability problems for riders.
No one is saying taxi services are fine as-is, in addition to rideshare ride being artificially cheap thanks to VC money subsidizing costs, they did offer real user experience improvements. But the rideshare services have also shirked a lot of duties and created new externalized costs for others to bear.
I've only been to Boston a few times pre-Uber, but I agree. I've had great cab experiences in Boston and Chicago, and Manhattan (although in Manhattan they often pulled the "I can't take cards right now" crap).
Or anywhere, in my experience. I've never had a taxi experience that wasn't terrible. Even before Uber and Lyft came along. That includes several different cities.
In Ireland, Uber has never been allowed. Taxis are pretty good. We use an app called "Free Now" (Previously "MyTaxi", previously "Hailo") where we can book a taxi and pay through the app. It's more expensive than Uber but it's regulated so always feels pretty safe.
We also have some strict laws like a taxi must produce a receipt if you request one etc
I love these comments like "you've clearly never X".
I have, in fact, used Taxis in California. Is it easier to use Uber or Lyft? Yes. Is there absolutely no alternative as the commenter above suggests? No.
We can have a conversation around why the Taxi system sucks, if you'd like.