Thanks (moondog) for updating this thread. This certainly fits with my experience last weekend trying to get a taxi in the Gongti area after midnight (quite a bit after actually ....). As others have indicated, if I ever need to get across town at anything like rush hour, I'll just head for the metro and deal with the crowds. And if it is raining and after the metro has closed down, the only thing to do is to find a good bar, order a drink and get wet inside rather than outside
I guess if I think about it, even close to where I live in Haidian it is now harder to get a taxi than it was some years ago (were are talking xiali-era here, rather than mianbao though ....). The change seems to have occurred only slowly though. First there were always taxis near the gate of my compound; then I could always find one or two on the small side road near the compound; then I had to walk to the nearest main road, but could get one easily, and now I generally have a small wait even on the main road.
I still have a soft spot for Beijing taxis though, for all their rough edges (and there are many of those ....).