New York City yellow taxis and Uber will work together as Uber has struggled to meet demand and taxi drivers have suffered financial challenges during the pandemic.
To that end, Curb Mobility and Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT), which provide tech systems to New York City’s more than 13,000 yellow taxis, will gain access to
‘s far larger client base.
The agreement might mean more rides and more money for cab drivers.
Passengers will be able to hail yellow cabs via smartphone apps owned by the two companies starting this summer.
“This is a real win for drivers – no longer do they have to worry about finding a fare during off peak times or getting a street hail back to Manhattan when in the outerboroughs,” Guy Peterson, Uber’s director of business development, said in a statement. “And this is a real win for riders.”
Cab rides will cost around the same as Uber X rides, but taxi drivers will be compensated according to New York’s ride-hail wage standards, which are higher on average than metered rates, according to Curb.
The agreement, announced on Thursday, comes as a growing number of cities move to control Uber and other app-based ride-hailing services, including New York City, which in 2018 imposed a temporary cap on new licenses for ride-hailing services.
The New York City Workers Alliance (NYCWA), a taxi driver advocacy group that has criticized Uber and other ride-hailing apps, said it will push for negotiations.
“After its business model has shown the failures to protect drivers from ridership downturns and rising gas prices, Uber is returning to its roots: yellow cabs,” Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the NYCWA, said in a statement Thursday.