The other day I went online from my mobile phone and ordered an Uber for a ride about 50 blocks in Manhattan at 11 a.m. It was not exactly peak travel time.

The quote was a whopping $53 dollars and a 10 minute wait.

While I was recovering from that sticker shock, an empty yellow cab drove by. I hailed it. The same ride in the cab was $23 or less than half.

This sounds great, except in most major cities, there are fewer and fewer taxis.

Now there’s a taxi app called Curb, which offers upfront pricing in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and more cities. And the best news, there’s no surge pricing. These are fixed fares, regardless of possible heavy traffic.

Another feature of this app is that the taxis can be booked immediately or scheduled in advance. But here’s a caution. The Curb app may not always get you a taxi fast enough, but it’s a great and much needed comparison pricing tool.