I've visited Colombia several times on several cities and unless you're taking illegal cabs you never feel unsafe. The legal cabs are pretty clearly marked.

Uber could give you an extra layer of safeness as you're basically recording your ride, but that does not mean the cabs are unsafe there. Having said that, if I had to take a taxi to take me to my Uber, I will really feel unsafe.

How do you distinguish legal cabs? I live here, and locals tell me half of Bogotá's 40,000 taxis have fake taxi licenses. Nobody's ever told me you can tell them apart.

Even the police and politicians here use Uber.

Bogota alone has ~50'000 registered taxis. That's one per 160 people living here. Still during rush hour it is quite hard to get one without waiting tens of minutes. Doesn't seem to me like something the majority is completely afraid of using.

There are plenty people worried about hailing a taxi from the street especially at night. Instead they use one of the multiple available apps that track driver, registration number and route to order one.

Almost all the people I know that exclusively use Uber are upper class and or expats.

I am afraid to take taxis in Parque de la 93 or Zona Rosa, where the high class dancing clubs are in Bogotá, but using an app or taking a taxi in other parts of the city is not that dangerous.

Being a taxi driver is also dangerous and driving the taxi to certain neighborhoods can be a very bad idea.

The posted article has no source for that claim.

In my experience (lived in Bogotá for over a year, visit regularly) the taxis there are completely safe. I hailed taxis on the street all the time, never with any issues. I've also personally never met anyone in Bogotá who has been afraid to take taxis.

That said, I'm going to Bogotá at the end of the month and it is annoying to see there won't be Uber available. It is pretty convenient, just for ordering with the app, the cashless aspect etc, and was a great extra option.

1) Will the taxis always take you to your destination in Columbia?

In the US at least, if they didn't want to go where you were going they wouldn't pick you up or would make you get out. That's not a problem with Uber. I've done 1hr long uber drives without complaint to out of the way places. Very impressive that Columbia is so far ahead here.

2) Will the credit card machine in the taxi always be working?

In the US at least, they always say the credit card machine is "broken". I would explain I didn't have cash or access to cash and since the machine was broken I wouldn't be paying the fare. They would then "fix" the machine. What a joke. Very impressive that Columbia is so far ahead here!

3) The taxi commission did not enforce behavior for drivers

Talking on the phone, driving unsafely, smoking etc were all common. Does Columbia have great enforcement in all these areas based on rider complaints? Very impressive that Columbia is so far ahead here!

4) If paying in cash the driver doesn't have change (which makes no sense since he gets lots of cash).

"2) Will the credit card machine in the taxi always be working?"

I have never seen a taxi with a credit card machine in Bogotá.