I don’t know if taxi companies have upped their online game, but Uber and Lyft’s huge advantage used to be that the customer could see what the ride would cost them, when their ride would arrive, and pay online. Those of us old enough can remember days when you’d worry about whether a taxi driver was going to take the scenic route, whether you’d have enough cash, whether they’d accept a credit card, whether they’d add some surcharge to credit card transactions, and then having to trust your credit card to yet another random stranger. Having to use taxis used to be a reliable source of stress when traveling; Uber utterly removed that (if you were male; I know women have additional sources of angst when getting into cars with strangers).

If Taxi companies have gotten their online shit together, where I can see the entire transaction - times and costs - in advance, then yeah, I’ll agree with you. But originally, Uber and Lyft were huge game changers for customers.