Sometimes taxis wouldn’t pick up certain people because of how they look
Unfortunately, at least in the US, Uber is just as bad. I’ve got a friend who’s blind and has a service dog - Uber drivers legally can’t decline a ride because he’s got a service dog, but very frequently they’d pull up, see the dog, and cancel the ride. Taxis are more likely to know and follow the law.
There’s a “removed Geneva convention violation” patch note in an early update of Stardew Valley for exactly this reason.