Anecdotally, I absolutely believe their stat about cab show rates. I went out in the city a lot when I lived there, and on Friday/Saturday nights around dinner time, your odds of getting a cab felt much worse than 50% -- it was always a surprise when you did get one. Late at night, after the clubs close at around 2am? Forget about it, I don't think I've ever gotten a cab at that time without waiting like an hour.

In that context, I've found Uber pretty useful. One thing to recognize is that I hardly ever rode Uber alone -- defraying the cost over 3-4 people makes it significantly more economical.

I agree that this is a sad state of affairs for SF cabs -- having grown up in Taipei, I'm used to being able to get a cab pretty much any time, any place.