I think it's fair to say regulation existed and exists in the West for taxi drivers. I understand their point to be the degree. I've taken many taxis in the UK and prior to Uber, the experience sucked outside of a black cab (which are very expensive). Ditto for New Zealand, Australia, Italy, France, Greece, etc. I'm lucky to be well travelled and I can say that sentiment for taxi drivers was terrible prior to Uber. Regulation existed, but that didn't stop drivers from being terrible in many ways.

Uber made it very clear who the terrible drivers were. It turned it into a real service industry where good service was expected. Suddenly scammers couldn't hide behind anonymity. To this day I would rather pay 2x as much for an Uber than take a regular taxi. That's how much they sucked.