> Sure, call your local car service from home when you're heading to JFK and he'll be there in 10. How about when you're in the Village at 1am? How about Red Hook?

New York is a bad example. The system that was here before was pretty exceptionally good.

Standard protocol if you were in the boroughs was to simply ask for the local car service number. Restaurants, bars and bodegas all had it ready. If you were in the city, just flag down a yellow.

A car was rarely more than a few minutes away.