> I can hail Uber from an app that works in Frankfurt, Paris and New York.
That matters to travelers (and skewed towards business travelers, too), i.e. people who visit only for a short time, but not much to anyone else.
> And it is far more ubiquitous, particularly outside the major metropolitan areas.
Not my experience. I can be far outside the city and call (through the App nowadays) a taxi and I know it's going to be there and reliable. Uber was hit and miss, tends to cancel suddenly etc... I don't think I've ever had a german taxi cancel on me, in decades. If something happened to impede my assigned Taxi, the driver would contact the central and they'd dispatch another one.
Uber does not have a proper "central". They only have an app and dispatch servers, no humans to sort things out to guarantee service.
> Uber is often cheaper.
And you get what you pay for... A german taxi gives you trained people and dedicated, specially maintained cars.
Travelers hail a disproportionate amount of taxis. Living in a walkable European city with good public transport, approximately the only times I use taxis or Uber are when I'm going to/from the airport/train station and have luggage, or when it's a business trip and I can expense it (and even then I opt for trains when I can).
And the parent commenter mentioned that they usually get a taxi from the airport at least (because it's right there I guess, there are strict special regulations about how german taxis wait at the airport to make things go smoothly), so... Another other reason to take one is when you're so far outside and at a time of day that public transport is spotty.
In markets like Frankfurt and London, Uber has a tougher time competing. Totally agreed. It still has niches. And most taxi markets aren’t filled with lovely, knowledgeable, ambitious drivers.
That matters to travelers (and skewed towards business travelers, too), i.e. people who visit only for a short time, but not much to anyone else.
> And it is far more ubiquitous, particularly outside the major metropolitan areas.
Not my experience. I can be far outside the city and call (through the App nowadays) a taxi and I know it's going to be there and reliable. Uber was hit and miss, tends to cancel suddenly etc... I don't think I've ever had a german taxi cancel on me, in decades. If something happened to impede my assigned Taxi, the driver would contact the central and they'd dispatch another one.
Uber does not have a proper "central". They only have an app and dispatch servers, no humans to sort things out to guarantee service.
> Uber is often cheaper.
And you get what you pay for... A german taxi gives you trained people and dedicated, specially maintained cars.