It's less of a faff than the Brighton Taxis app which you were posting about recently which, let's be clear, only exists because of Uber. Like it or not, this innovation in the "proper taxis" space has only come about because of Uber's fantastic offering which "proper taxis" needed to react to...
Not sure how a driver being able to earn a premium when demand is high (triggering Uber surge pricing) really fits with the supposed "race to the bottom" argument.