How are taxis fighting back against Uber?

Perhaps seeing that the current tact of petitioning legislators to prohibit Uber from operating in their cities wasn’t working, taxi services are instead adopting a mobile app of their own. In San Francisco, 80 percent of taxis now use Flywheel, a startup that recently raised $12 million.

The creator of Flywheel says that even with that small investment, his company stands a chance against Uber for two reasons: First, taxis have an advantage because they’re already in place, and second, convenience is the main market driver.

“Transportation totally is not price sensitive. When you need it, price is not the important consideration,” said CEO Rakesh Mathur, adding that with the taxi business already a $15 billion industry, they don’t have a mountain to climb like Uber does -- they just have to keep from getting pushed off the top.