AL.com reporters Adam Ganucheau and Ian Hoppe ventured out on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015, to test the effectiveness of Uber versus Yellow Cab, Birmingham's largest cab company. Uber launched in Birmingham earlier that afternoon, and it was the night before the Birmingham Bowl between Auburn University and the University of Memphis.

It doesn't take thorough reporting to know the general consensus of Birmingham's taxicab system: It often lacks reliability and quality.

Bar and restaurant owners have griped about losing business because of the absence of a reliable transportation system for patrons. Residents have missed flights because cabs didn't show up when scheduled. Authorities have discussed DUI incidents because of a lack of a safe ride home. Tourists have submitted complaints after being stranded at various places around the city.

But after more than 1.5 years of negotiation, the Birmingham City Council approved Uber, which proponents widely believe will help curb all of the aforementioned problems.

AL.com wanted to test the waters firsthand. The idea was simple - send two people to the same bars, have them simultaneously order Uber and Yellow Cab and publish the results. Adam Ganucheau used Yellow Cab and Ian Hoppe used Uber. Here are the results:

Leg 1: Dave's Pub in Southside to Avondale Brewing Company (2.7 miles)

Uber: 14 minutes, $12.33

Yellow Cab: 37 minutes, $10.93

A popular argument made by cabbies defending their companies are that they now have a mobile application that allows you to order a cab right from your phone, just like Uber. We put it to the test on the very first leg of our trip, and the results were interesting.

7:24 p.m. - Rides requested

7:25 p.m. - Uber arrives, picks up Ian

7:34 p.m. - Yellow Cab app informs Adam that cab is arriving

7:38 p.m. - Ian arrives at destination

7:39 p.m. - Yellow Cab still hasn't arrived; app says Adam is in the cab, traveling toward midtown, when really he was still at Dave's

7:43 p.m. - Yellow Cab sends email receipt of trip that Adam didn't even take

7:45 p.m. - New Yellow Cab ordered through app

7:50 p.m. - Yellow Cab ride arrives, picks up Adam

8:01 p.m. - Adam arrives at Avondale Brewing Company

As you can see from the timeline, Yellow Cab's app was faulty. The cabbie likely picked up another passenger before arriving to Dave's to pick Adam up (Adam was not charged for the phantom ride because he had not inputted credit card information on the app). A second Yellow Cab order worked quickly and effectively, but the Uber order worked perfectly the first time.

Leg 2: Avondale Brewing Company to Todd English Pub in Uptown (3.0 miles)

Uber: 15 minutes, $11.49

Yellow Cab: 18 minutes, $11.50

Okay, yeah, most people would just call a cab instead of using the mobile app. So that's what we did for this leg. Adam called Yellow Cab dispatcher, Ian ordered an Uber from his phone.

8:39 p.m. - Rides requested; Ian uses Uber app, Adam calls Yellow Cab

8:41 p.m. - Uber arrives, picks up Ian

8:47 p.m. - Yellow Cab arrives, picks up Adam

8:54 p.m. - Ian arrives at destination

8:57 p.m. - Adam arrives at destination

This leg was much closer. The Uber route was effective and easy, just like the first leg. But this time, the Yellow Cab route was also very effective. Still, Uber beat Yellow Cab by three minutes.

Leg 3: Todd English Pub in Uptown to Paramount in Midtown (0.9 miles)

Uber: 5 minutes, $6.48

Yellow Cab: 20 minutes, $6.33

A 2015 addition to the Yellow Cab policy was to add taxi stands at popular areas around town, like Avondale, Lakeview and Regions Field. One of the newly-installed taxi stands is at the Uptown District, so we decided to put that to the test. (Note: There was heavy foot traffic at Uptown on Dec. 29, and multiple people stood at the taxi stand. The taxi stand signs inform users to call the Yellow Cab dispatcher after five minutes if a cab has not arrived.)

9:46 p.m. - Rides requested; Ian orders Uber, Adam stands at taxi stand

9:47 p.m. - Uber arrives, picks up Ian

9:51 p.m. - Ian arrives at destination

9:51 p.m. - Taxi still hasn't arrived, Adam calls Yellow Cab as instructed; Yellow Cab dispatcher doesn't know what the taxi stand is, requires a nearby address

10:00 p.m. - Yellow Cab arrives, picks up Adam

10:06 p.m. - Adam arrives at destination

So the additional time for Yellow Cab on this leg most likely would've been avoided had Adam called the dispatcher to begin with. But one might assume that a taxi stand in an area packed with foot traffic might be an effective way to hail a cab. The dispatcher didn't seem to know anything about the taxi stand in the Uptown district and required a nearby address to give the driver.

Leg 4: Paramount in Midtown to Dave's Pub in Southside (1.3 miles)

Uber: 15 minutes, $7.05

Yellow Cab: 13 minutes, $6.33

At this point of the night, we had tried all three ways to hail a Yellow Cab in Birmingham. So for the last leg, we decided to use the most effective way from earlier in the night: a normal phone call to the dispatcher.

11:02 p.m. - Rides requested

11:10 p.m. - Yellow Cab arrives, picks up Adam

11:11 p.m. - Uber arrives, picks up Ian

11:15 p.m. - Adam arrives at Dave's Pub

11:17 p.m. - Ian arrives at Dave's Pub

On this leg, there was a bit of a wait for both Yellow Cab and Uber. But for the first time during the experiment, Yellow Cab beat Uber by two minutes.

At the end of the night, both Uber and Yellow Cab had their advantages and disadvantages. Throughout the night, Uber was slightly more expensive than Yellow Cab. Uber's total cost for the night was $37.35, while Yellow Cab's was $35.09. (Note: While Uber's prices include all fees, including tip, Yellow Cab's do not. We added a 15% tip to each of the four Yellow Cab rides, which are included in the total price.)

But for three of the four legs, Uber was faster than Yellow Cab. Yellow Cab took 88 minutes while Uber took just 49 minutes.

Using the Yellow Cab app proved to be extremely ineffective. The inconvenience of having to request a new cab and the 20-minute difference on that leg was pretty rough. Calling the Yellow Cab dispatcher proved to be the most effective way of ordering a taxi.

It's important to note that this was Uber's first night in operation in the Magic City, so an influx of drivers might have been driving then that might not drive on another Tuesday night. However, we figured both companies would be busy that night because of the visitors in town for the bowl game.

Additionally, there are nine cab companies in Birmingham, though Yellow Cab is by far the largest company in the city, operating about 100 cabs out of the city's roughly 175. It is possible that those other eight companies would have operated better or worse than Yellow Cab.