Comment by eksith

That can be both good and bad. Good because you get a ride very quickly. It's bad because you have no idea...

  * Who your driver is
  * How long h/she's been driving
  * If there's a camera in the taxi (for your own protection)
  * Whether that's being monitored or just disconnected
  * How well the car is being maintained
  * Whether the driver has insurance and actually knows how to get to your destination
  * Whether h/she's from New Jersey (I kid, I kid... mostly).

Taxis are regulated, ideally, for this reason. I think drivers should have the right to apply to become a taxi driver, but then they have to maintain certain standards -- especially safety, competence and fee structure -- or what we end up would be an order of magnitude worse than what we have.