I live in rural UK. We have several local taxi companies that reliably turn up within minutes. It's been that way for decades.
The only really interesting value add to Uber was app-centric interactions (as opposed to a phone call), giving the ability to pay by card (instead of cash), and to track the taxi in the app.
Many local taxi firms are using apps too, so those advantages are gone. If this plays out the same in all geographies then Uber has already lost the taxi game.
Same in rural area I grew up. If anything, the monopoly on being a taxi drivers is what made it possible to get a taxi year round, not just during tourist season. So we could call a cab at a random weekday and probably be the driver's only ride that day. Then they would make most of their money during high season.
Now, lots of randoms dip into the high season using these apps. No longer profitable for the taxi to operate year around. So for the locals there is no longer a reliable taxi service most of the year...
It's a fair value prop in SF, where you have to scream like a cave-person while wading through poop-filled streets with gun-wielding semi-homeless trying to mug you at each corner. Unfortunately for Uber the rest of the world doesn't look quite like that and normal taxis work just fine...
> Unfortunately for Uber the rest of the world doesn't look quite like that and normal taxis work just fine...
Not in the slightest. One of the biggest problems with normal taxis in Shanghai is that they won't stop if it's raining. And it rains all the time. I don't suddenly need a taxi less if it starts to rain; if anything, I need one more.
you make the car wet with wet clothes and shoes , smell wont go unless you dry it in the sun ... and if you dont dry it out it will smell like wet socks ...
The only really interesting value add to Uber was app-centric interactions (as opposed to a phone call), giving the ability to pay by card (instead of cash), and to track the taxi in the app.
Many local taxi firms are using apps too, so those advantages are gone. If this plays out the same in all geographies then Uber has already lost the taxi game.