"Yes but you needed a different app for each taxi company."
Depends on a market I guess. Here you have a single app for all local taxi companies (actually, there are few competing apps, but you get a point), you can even select which companies do you want to use via checkboxes, because their price differs. Same centralized service works with SMS too, if you don't want to install app or have an ancient cell phone.
Yeah, but Uber and Lyft are not restricted to one city or country. No Taxi company (of the kind that actually owns and operates their own fleet of cars) could do that.
Features were pretty much on par with Uber.