Just want to provide taxi service context from "a lesser (known) place" - Łódź, Poland:
1. You can't hail a cab that's in traffic
It's illegal for them to stop randomly.
2. Cabs have dedicated "TAXI" spots
I _believe_ the city designates them - well marked space along curb. There any taxi company cabs can queue and wait for "off street pickup". Like at LAX, just smaller and spread over the city (not necessarily evenly).
3. Every taxi company prefer you to order the cab earlier
You can do it old-school via a voice call, or via an app, or via an SMS or... I'm not even sure, I speak the language so I just call. You can order a cab for tomorrow, for the middle of the night etc. And they _will not ask_ you about the destination, only about the pickup point - which contrary to point 1 can be literally anywhere a car can stop without blocking traffic (i.e. a road in the middle of nowhere).
4. For an ordered ride the dispatcher do care
It's the major part of their job for you to get your cab at the place and on the time agreed. I find it insulting if the cab isn't _earlier_ than the agreed time. Cab being late more than couple of minutes is very rare.
5. For an ordered ride you do get some cab info
My favorite company sends an SMS with not only the car description and cab number (well visible), but also a link to a very simple but "data only" web-app that shows where the cab is, updating about once a minute. So like Uber, but simpler and way more reliable (ever seen your Uber driver get magically teleported way back than they were a second ago? ...prediction gone wrong).
6. Pay cash, card and others
As per 3 you'll be asked your destination only ever when you're already in the cab, and by the driver - so I have no idea if any prepaid options are available, but then again to me taxi is like a haircut or a restaurant meal - a service where prepayment is just a bad incentive for the provider.
7. It's like a restaurant meal
I had cases where I was going for a train (so tight schedule), but the cab driver got rather unlucky with the choice of route and time was running out... they offered to go lower over the metered number, because hey they are people too, and that's as much as they have power to do. I decline, not their fault (and a decade of experience of building in buffers for long-range travel means "I'm always fine").
I believe most if not all of the above applies across all Polish cities and taxi companies. I have used Uber in Poland only exactly twice, and many times abroad, with most trips in the USA. Compared to my Łódź, Poland taxi experience Uber is mostly "meh" - and it's very unreliable for anything with a schedule.
1. You can't hail a cab that's in traffic
It's illegal for them to stop randomly.
2. Cabs have dedicated "TAXI" spots
I _believe_ the city designates them - well marked space along curb. There any taxi company cabs can queue and wait for "off street pickup". Like at LAX, just smaller and spread over the city (not necessarily evenly).
3. Every taxi company prefer you to order the cab earlier
You can do it old-school via a voice call, or via an app, or via an SMS or... I'm not even sure, I speak the language so I just call. You can order a cab for tomorrow, for the middle of the night etc. And they _will not ask_ you about the destination, only about the pickup point - which contrary to point 1 can be literally anywhere a car can stop without blocking traffic (i.e. a road in the middle of nowhere).
4. For an ordered ride the dispatcher do care
It's the major part of their job for you to get your cab at the place and on the time agreed. I find it insulting if the cab isn't _earlier_ than the agreed time. Cab being late more than couple of minutes is very rare.
5. For an ordered ride you do get some cab info
My favorite company sends an SMS with not only the car description and cab number (well visible), but also a link to a very simple but "data only" web-app that shows where the cab is, updating about once a minute. So like Uber, but simpler and way more reliable (ever seen your Uber driver get magically teleported way back than they were a second ago? ...prediction gone wrong).
6. Pay cash, card and others
As per 3 you'll be asked your destination only ever when you're already in the cab, and by the driver - so I have no idea if any prepaid options are available, but then again to me taxi is like a haircut or a restaurant meal - a service where prepayment is just a bad incentive for the provider.
7. It's like a restaurant meal
I had cases where I was going for a train (so tight schedule), but the cab driver got rather unlucky with the choice of route and time was running out... they offered to go lower over the metered number, because hey they are people too, and that's as much as they have power to do. I decline, not their fault (and a decade of experience of building in buffers for long-range travel means "I'm always fine").
I believe most if not all of the above applies across all Polish cities and taxi companies. I have used Uber in Poland only exactly twice, and many times abroad, with most trips in the USA. Compared to my Łódź, Poland taxi experience Uber is mostly "meh" - and it's very unreliable for anything with a schedule.