Cab Drivers: Time Running Out For Chicago Taxi Industry
(CBS) -- Advocates for Chicago taxicab drivers are citing a new report that many of them are in danger of going out of business because of competition from ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft.
WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports from City Hall.
Tracey Abman, associate director with AFSCME Local 31, says the numbers show it's been an uphill fight for the taxi industry since 2014, when the City of Chicago approved rules allowing people to use their own cars to carry passengers for ride-sharing services.
She says many independent owner-operators can't afford the payments on their taxi medallions and hundreds face foreclosure.
Abman says they're asking the city for changes, such as ending the requirement that medallion drivers regularly replace their cars -- a huge expense not required of Uber, Lyft and Via.
Without help, the drivers' advocates say, Chicago's taxi industry will be decimated.