Uber (and Lyft, as well as other rideshare companies) were hyped as the end of the taxi monopoly. Instead of charging set rates for rides, they have dynamic pricing that gives an incentive for drivers to work when there’s high demand. This solves the supply and demand issue suffered by taxis.
In addition, the technology that allows payment through the app, letting a driver know where you are and your destination, is far above anything offered by taxi cabs. Because of their previous monopoly, taxis didn’t try to improve service leaving passengers leaning out onto the street to hail a ride or hoping one drives up to the stop at your hotel.
The pandemic has brought together some strange bedfellows. You can add Uber and the NYC Taxis to that group. That’s right; you can now hail an NYC Yellow Cab on the Uber app.
New York City is Uber’s largest market and with the expansion of Uber Eats, they needed more drivers to get food and passengers to their destinations. New York City already required Uber drivers to have a license, which the city put caps on in 2018. So Uber did what they’ve done in other cities worldwide – they decided to work with taxis, instead of against them.
When we visited Sydney in 2014, the only ride we could get with Uber was a taxi. It was easy and a cab showed up at our location within minutes. We paid through the app, just like using Uber at home.
This partnership with NYC taxis is only possible because cabs now have their own ride-hailing service. Uber is integrating with the CURB service, which is what several commenters suggested I use when needing an early morning ride to JFK.
Taxis in New York have certain advantages to ride-sharing services. The set airport pricing often is better than the dynamic model offered by Uber (although that may be changing). We’ve also found out that if it’s raining (or snowing), many Uber drivers tend to stay home while the taxis still are running.
I’m interested to see how this plays out and if the prices using CURB and Uber are any different for hailing a taxi in New York.
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