Uber et al may be harming the taxi business, but my friends and I only took taxis if we had to in our town because they were hard to find, and generally sucked. Now we Uber to go out because it is so convenient. Another friends car broke down and he just never replaced it. He didn't drive that much anyway, and Uber satisfied his need for a car. He would have never done that with the traditional, unreliable taxi in my town.
Uber has definitely expanded the number of people who take a driver service. I wonder if anyone has done any statistical studies around DUIs and Uber coming into a town.
A quick Google search will give you some examples.
Just think for a second about countries and cities which did not have taxis.
Which countries and cities didn't have taxis before Uber?
In the 6 months I spent in Lyon (2nd city from France), I only saw a taxi once.
I searched the internet for "taxis in France" and generally get the impression that "Rates in Paris are different from the rest of France. ... There are four main tariffs for taxis outside Paris."[1]
This[2] article claims a "nationwide protest against Uber", which would seem odd for, as you would have us believe, a nation without taxis.
1. http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-france-taxis 2. http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/25/8844649/french-taxi-driver...