Riders will soon be able to hail a cab in New York City through the Uber app. The company will list taxis in NYC on its app later this spring, marking Uber's first partnership with taxi operators in the United States, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
As part of the deal, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission’s software will merge with Uber's ride-hailing software. Uber X rides will be about the same price as a taxi ride, and cab drivers who take Uber passengers can still be paid according to the time and distance they drive, just as taxis usually operate. Uber and the TLC will take some commission from each ride, but they declined to say the terms (although Uber takes a global average of around 20%, the Journal reported).
“It’s bigger and bolder than anything we’ve done,” Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s global mobility chief, told the Journal.
Surging gas prices and the ongoing pandemic have pushed many Uber and Lyft drivers to quit. Uber tried luring them back last summer with incentives, like a driver stimulus, but the recent hike in gas prices sent drivers back home again. The ride-hailing driver shortage was good for taxis, which had struggled since the rise of Uber and Lyft but rebounded even more than app-based rides in the spring of 2021.
The deal has been in the works for some time. Uber began considering a partnership with taxis back in November, when Uber's Josh Gold reportedly talked with the Taxi and Limousine Commission about "the potential for a yellow taxi dispatch." Uber had also approached the head of Creative Mobile Technologies, which has a taxi-hailing app in the city, about running ads on the roof of its taxis last year.
The company has created similar deals with cities overseas, such as Hong Kong, and in countries such as Austria and Spain. Individual cab drivers in U.S. cities can also choose to list their taxis through Uber.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE