I just thought of something else about Uber and that is the safety of the driver. As a younger bloke I drove cabs for a time and let me tell you, when you're on that rank any crackhead can get in, he may or may not have a dollar in the world, ie/ he may have no intention of even making payment, in fact, his intention may be to drive you around making drug deals for the afternoon and then hit you over the back of the head and rob you.
Uber is different, Uber knows the name and details of the passenger before he gets in and has a verified credit card on file. Driving a cab puts you at a whole other level of risk vs driving an uber. Ironically, the only people uber drivers seem to get worrie about is angry Taxi Drivers.