In Scandinavia though (at least in the big cities), you'll be picked up in an unnecessarily top-of-the-line Mercedes Sedan and expected to pay $75 for a 20 minute ride. Also be sure to call the night before if you're trying to catch a flight in the morning! Otherwise you might find yourself on hold.

Luckily the excellent public transport makes up for it. But there are still many scenarios where Uber is a welcome addition.

This is true. Cabs can be _very_ expensive here.

A 10 min drive can easily cost you $40 - and lots of people do take the taxi when going out / downtown during weekends. Even more so when they're heading back home.

We do have public transportation, like night busses that drive every 30 / 60 mins, and through the most populated routes.

But still, we do have pirate / illegal taxis. Basically young adults that will drive you wherever for half the price what a taxi would take.

But yeah, it feels that we simply use taxis a lot less over here. It's mostly traveling people, older folks that aren't mobile enough, and similar.. and of course the hordes of people going to and from downtown during weekends.

People are very good at using public transportation.

I had some car trouble this week so I was ubering to work. 20 minute ride was usually about $13.

The drivers were always nice and friendly. Their vehicles were clean. They arrived on time and got me to work when otherwise I would have been biking or walking for hours.

Those guys earn their money. I tipped them well. I wouldn't Uber to work forever because it is costly, but I absolutely loved ubering while my car was in the shop.

This is possible in the US as well, but depending on where you live this might take a long time, be expensive, or both. Plus, you get no sense of where the cab is. And sometimes cab drivers refuse to go to your neighborhood.

Uber solves that.

Does Uber really solve the bad neighborhood problem?

Maybe not fully, but cabs refused to go to good neighborhoods, let alone bad ones.

I live in Queens in a great neighborhood and cabs have "forgot" how to get here more than once. They don't like it because they have a lower chance of a return fare.

From my experience, US taxi companies are terrible with responding to calls. Their time estimates are so inaccurate that they are useless.