All of New York’s iconic yellow taxis have been hailable via a smartphone app since 2018, under the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission Flex Fare program, where the passenger agrees to pay a pre-arranged fare and the meter is not used. Originally planned to run for only two years, the program has been extended.
But in order to have this option, a passenger must have one of the two authorized apps, Arro or Curb. Despite their usefulness to cabbie and rider alike, these aren’t exactly top 10 downloads from the App Store or Google Play. But Uber is wildly popular, and starting soon Uber will integrate Arro and Curb, allowing all yellows to be e-hailed by all Uber users. Terrific.
The battered yellows need the help. Despite there being 13,587 yellow medallions, only half of them were on the road as of January. Too many drivers to count are going belly up. Uber, too, gains, helping to fill a shortage of drivers and vehicles and provide their customers with rides, even if it’s in the backseat of a yellow.
Yellow drivers will retain complete freedom of choice to accept or not an app fare. If the fare is wanted, the roof light turns off, the meter stays off and Uber and Arro/Curb take their share. Otherwise, it’s business as usual with street hails and the driver keeping everything on the meter. Take, for example, a yellow with a street hail fare from Midtown to Brooklyn. The taxi can drive back to Manhattan empty, or instead accept an e-hail heading to Midtown. Then back in Midtown, he can switch again to the meter for the next fare.
Passengers also have a choice. Some will pick a yellow because it may be a shorter wait than a traditional Uber. Some might prefer a yellow, or a black.
It’s too bad it took this long for cabs to benefit from the Uber revolution, which upended if not eviscerated their business. But just like a car arriving in the rain, better late than never.
