Before cabs were at customers’ fingertips, Ryan Battles of Branch House Tavern in Flowery Branch said the practice on New Year’s Eve was often “call a taxi and pray.” “One thing we did a long time ago was we actually paid for a taxi service to park their cars in our lot and basically service our restaurant and our restaurant only,” said Battles, who works as the tavern’s manager. Because of the lack of taxi service in Flowery Branch, the rise of Uber, Lyft and other smartphone-based transportation services have aided Battles’ business and others when it comes to New Year’s Eve.