During periods of extremely high surge pricing, I take regulated taxis instead. At first I think, 'wow I love competition its such a good thing this alternative service was around' but then I try to pay the cab driver, here is the experience in 2016:

- The meter system is broken

- The cab driver presses buttons frantically on a black box before resorting to hitting it in hopes that it responds to external stimuli

- The cab driver is unsure how to process credit cards (or even cash) in the event this black box does not start responding "Uhhh, ahhhhh, this stupid thing"

- If black box does begin responding, then lets advance to the credit card processing part, which also doesn't work

- FUTURISTIC WORLD CITIES in the US have taxis with screens in them so the rider can do the credit card processing on their own, except this doesn't work either "your screen isn't responding..."