NYC yellow taxis, Uber agree to form alliance allowing ride-share app users to hail either
NEW YORK -- They have gone from enemies to partners.
Uber and yellow taxis in New York City will now be working together. There is now a new agreement and CBS2's Alice Gainer has more on whether it will be good for riders.
City yellow taxi drivers have been battling ride-share apps for business for years, but Uber has been dealing with a driver shortage, which has meant longer wait times and higher fares.
"Yellow cab is very easy to get," one New Yorker said.
The pandemic made everything worse.
"It is a real struggle, I must confess," one driver said.
"It's picking up, but not like what it used to be, but it's still better than last year," taxi driver Baljinder Singh added.
Now, taxis and Uber are joining forces. Soon, you'll be able to hail a yellow taxi on your Uber app.
Uber's Andrew MacDonald, the company senior vice president of mobility and business operations, says it will, "team up with taxi software companies CMT and Curb, which will benefit taxi drivers and all New Yorkers."
Those power the apps Curb and ARRO, which are currently used to hail a yellow cabs on your phone.
"It's never too late to make things right," said Fernando Mateo, founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.
Mateo said he's pleased with the alliance.
"Hopefully now the industry will come back and it will come back and stay -- at a lower price to the driver but as a convenience to the industry," Mateo said.
Uber says drivers' earnings will be based on Taxi and Limousine Commission-mandated rates. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance says yellow cab drivers would be paid the rates regulated for ride-share drivers.
"But here's the catch: those rates reflect the expenses that Uber and Lyft drivers have, which are actually lower than yellow cab driver expenses, where you still have a medallion, the car that needs to be changed every six years," executive director Bhairavi Desai said. "For yellow cab drivers who have higher expenses, those rates would be almost 15 percent less than what they would make from the meter."
She noted this is voluntary for yellow taxi drivers to be a part of. But after the hardships some drivers have faced, Mateo says, "Sometimes, it's better to take less than to take nothing."
For the rider, fares will be the same on the app, regardless if it's a taxi or UberX on the app. This aims to drive down the wait for a ride and, potentially, the cost.
Taxi drivers will also see an upfront price for the trip and can choose whether to accept it. Yellow taxis on their own seem to be less expensive these days, because the meter's calculated rate differs from ride-share.