Uber Will List New York City Taxi On its App

Uber recently announced its app would begin to list New York City taxi cabs. The partnership is intended to address the needs of two ride-hail entities that have previously been at odds. 

Taxi cab drivers will now be offered Uber trips, connecting these drivers with a larger pool of riders. Through the deal, Uber gains access to the roughly 14,000 taxi cab drivers in New York City and their cars. Uber is in need of more drivers as the company has seen a decrease in drivers since the start of the pandemic. The company had 22% less drivers working at the start of 2022 than it did in the spring of 2019. 

Additionally, the deal allows Uber to add more drivers to its network without adding more cars onto the street. The company will be able to bypass the cap New York City has put on the amount of ride-hail cars allowed on the road since 2018

The partnership offers some flexibility to taxi cab drivers, as they are able to see the details of a trip (where it’s going and how much it is worth) before accepting the ride. These drivers won’t be penalized for declining a ride before it begins and they are able to opt out of receiving Uber ride requests entirely if they choose to do so. 

Uber is currently working with Creative Mobile Technologies and Curb, with the goal of having all New York City taxi cabs listed on its app in the future. The deal still needs to be approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, though a beta version of the offering is expected to be available in the spring with the public gaining access to the offering in the summer.

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