"Many joined the wave to drive for Uber. Those who still struggle on in the industry need to work at least one more hour a day to maintain their income at its original level," said Qian.

Although Uber is not the only reason that taxi drivers are leaving the industry, the competition between taxis and ride-sharing services brings the situation in the taxi industry into the spotlight, said experts.

"Competition is always good, which will bring about new products through market adjustment mechanisms and offer profits to taxi drivers, as well as the public," said Li Hongchang, deputy director of China Transportation Economics Research Center at Beijing Jiaotong University.

Wang Xiaolei, a researcher with Sino-US Global Logistics Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, suggested adopting taxi fares that can be determined by the market to further motivate taxi drivers.