Here in Toronto, Uber is much cheaper then a cab and only reaches cab prices when surge pricing kicks in: http://www.moneysense.ca/spend/uber-vs-taxi-the-best-way-to-...

So the incentive isn't only the app, its also prices. There is a lot of lobbying being done here on the part of Uber and the cab companies have already staged a few demonstrations. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.