Black-cab taxi tours of London are apparently very high quality [0] although I'm uncertain of how much in-demand they are.

I was envisaging the passengers who book a cab to travel from A to B, not explicit tour bookings. I find it odd that cabbies are rallying behind the "safest ride with the greatest guide" slogan when Uber appear to do a reasonable job regarding background investigations [1], and the "greatest guide" is only required for a minority (I presume) of bookings.

To me, it feels that black-cabs have had a monopoly on being able to pick up passengers and charge high fares. They're now being undercut by Uber, and they're fighting back by emphasising their current business model. Surely their business is suffering precisely because their operating model has failed to predict and adapt to change?

[0] https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d188...

[1] See footnote in this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11608878/I-said-...