As they say: once you've been surge priced (by uber), you never go back (to uber)
None of this is intended as an anti-uber rant, I simply think they're failing to deal with the primary issue: regulations and real service are not just for breakfast.
I actually had to catch a cab from Earl's Court to Kew Gardens because District Line had issues. I got in and told the driver, an elderly man, my destination of Victoria Gate, Kew Gardens. First red flag, he wasn't sure where that was. Second red flag, he pulls out a paper map book, like the kind I haven't seen for 10 years. Third red flag he doesn't even know which lane to exit the roundabout to go towards Kew.
I proceeded to watch on my smartphone how he went completely the wrong way and added 20 minutes to the trip getting stuck in heavy traffic. I'm well familiar with The Knowledge, and I can tell you without a doubt, someone lent this old codger his black cab. Whatever idiot cabbie did that did far more damage to the cause of the traditional black cabs than anything Uber could ever do.
I guess the "primary issue" differs depending on one's perspective. The black-cab drivers are highly concerned about loss of business, and personally I think they're addressing this concern in the wrong way. I guess time will tell.
No doubt that black-cab regulation is stringent, although I'm unconvinced that they're the safer ride. I have no way of determining if my black-cab driver has a history of unpleasant behaviour. Uber's rating system gives me some hint toward that -- although of course it is less than perfect.
Regarding price-surging... surely we've all been there, and yet still gone back to Uber another time?