Bahama Times

Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Uber to list New York City yellow taxis in app

Uber to list New York City yellow taxis in app

After ravaging New York City's yellow cab industry, Uber is now taking steps to embrace it.

The company will now list New York City yellow cabs on its app, a partnership Uber described as the latest step in a global effort to work with the taxi industry to unlock new markets.

It already has similar arrangements in place in countries such as Spain, Germany, Austria and Turkey.

Uber has been facing a driver shortage as it emerges from the pandemic.

The deal will add about 14,000 taxi drivers licensed in New York City - one of its most important markets - to Uber's platform.

Guy Peterson, director of business development for Uber, called it a "win for drivers".

"No longer do they have to worry about finding a fare during off-peak times to getting a street hail back to Manhattan when in the outer boroughs," he said.

The number of rides in yellow taxis in New York has plunged since Uber launched in the city in 2011, as people opted for the ease of online booking. The collapse helped to push nearly a thousand drivers to file for bankruptcy in recent years.

Under the partnership, the software companies that currently work with city-licensed cab drivers will integrate with Uber, which will take a cut of the fares. The companies did not say how much this would be.

The offering will roll out to the public this spring. Riders hailing a yellow taxi via the app will pay fares comparable to an Uber X ride, according to a Wall Street Journal report that Uber confirmed.

Shares in Uber rose on the news.

But Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said Uber should not make the mistake of thinking that this means its fights with drivers in New York are over. She said Uber typically pays about 15% less than what a driver could earn running the meter.

"The companies that tore up this industry need this more than the drivers do," said Ms Desai. "The fare structure that is not enough for Uber drivers is also not going to be enough for yellow cab drivers."

Bruce Schaller, a New York-based consultant who has studied the growth of Uber in the city, said the deal would benefit drivers and customers by widening market access, while helping the city control the number of empty cars adding to pollution and congestion problems as they look for customers.

"I've always felt that these industries would converge," he said. "This is probably sooner than one would have expected...but clearly the pandemic has turned everything upside down and people are trying to put things back together in a way that will work."

As Uber pursues this model in other cities, the firm may come to dominate the market even more, Mr Schaller said. But in New York City, he said hailing a taxi from the street was likely to remain an essential part of life.

"The street hail is still a big deal in New York," he added.

Ryan Wanttaja, the acting head of New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which regulates the industry, said it was "always interested in tools that can expand economic opportunities for taxi drivers".

"We are excited about any proposal to more easily connect passengers with taxis and look forward to learning more about this agreement between Uber and the taxi apps and ensuring it complies with TLC rules," he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×