Taxicabs of the United States area. The president of United Cab discourages his drivers from carrying firearms, instead advising them to accelerate the car and crash into a lamppost or even a police car if they are threatened with a gun. Uber is a major competitor to taxi companies, providing on-demand for-hire car service through a smartphone app in many US cities. Uber services are generally treated as black-car services from a legal standpoint and are not generally regulated under Taxi laws. This can cause friction with both local governments and taxi companies. In June 2015, the city council voted unanimously to increase taxi fares;
DiDi mobile platform taxi-calling application was developed by Chinese mobile application company Beijing Xiaoju Keji Co., Ltd. The application is one of the major taxi apps in China, with over 100 million users in more than 300 cities. It was established in June 2012. Didi Kuaidi is the result of the February 2015 merger between taxi-hailing firms Didi Dache (backed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Limited) and Kuaidi Dache, backed by Alibaba Group. A study in December 2013 by Analysis International, cited by Reuters, estimated Didi Dache to hold approximately 55% of the smartphone-based taxi-hailing market (about 150 million Chinese