Most cab authorities, and many of the drivers under them, are scum. It is hard to express just how corrupt and unprofessional Uber would have to be to come anywhere near being worse than them. I personally prefer Lyft, the app is less broken and the prices are pretty similar here in Southern Ontario. In Toronto, the transit authorities even have a cross-promotional relationship with Lyft, and I think it increases ridership noticeably. Public transit can only get you so far, even if it's as extensive as anyone can afford to run.
Uber isn't exploiting anyone: it is extremely simple to register with them, you can work whenever you please, and you can stop at any point; they pay on time and give you transparent access to their managerial infrastructure to see how you can align yourself with their business, or that you're unwilling to do that. Just because your system isn't set up to particularly support independent contractors doesn't mean that Uber's drivers fall outside that category.
In Toronto, when the cabbies were fed up with being out-competed by Uber contractors (and Uber's subsidies at the time), they decided to block all the roads surrounding a major hospital, including the emergency vehicle routes. To my mind, all of them should have lost not only their taxi licenses, but their driver's licenses as well.
The authorities promised to professionalize cabs, but in reality they did the exact opposite, and the same story has repeated itself across North America.