This article started with comparing the center serving drivers of New York's yellow taxis and the center serving the Uber drivers in the city. The center for Uber drivers is on the higher end comparing to the one for the yellow cab drivers. Uber, Lyft and other similar services offer consumers convenient and sometimes cheaper options. Since the demand for these ride-hailing services is increasingly high, the competition for drivers is intense. However, the series of fare cuts that Uber offers had drawn protests from drivers, who say it makes it difficult for them to make enough income. Uber was also sued by some drivers trying to get health insurance and other employee benefits.
Despite the conflicts happened between Uber and its drivers, Uber is still the winner over yellow cabs. The taxi companies are forced to embrace new ways to get its foot back on the ground. There comes a dilemma for the drivers: should they stay with a taxi industry that has been a fixture of New York life for over a century or should they join the ranks of the ride-hail apps that are "reshaping the city's transportation landscape"? The yellow-cab drivers are feeling more wanted because the industry has been trying hard to lure new workers and customers, which was completely different before Uber, Lyft existed. Yellow cab drivers did not get much help for the taxi center and were treated unfairly sometimes. Now since the taxi industry reformed some of its policy, the center had served more drivers than before. The drivers are walked through each step of the licensing and renewal process. They also receive free training classes which cost more than $150 before.
I personally would like to support taxi companies. But the features that Uber and Lyft offer make it impossible for me to prefer a taxi. These ride-hailing apps are just way more convenient and save me lots of waiting time trying to get an empty cab by the side of the street. And I feel safer riding Uber and Lyft because I can easily report a driver on my phone. When the taxi companies can offer similar features like Uber, I think I would use cabs again, because I respect their long history of serving customers.
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/nyregion/nyc-taxi-center-uber.html?ref=business
3 comments:
I agree with the idea of supporting the taxi companies, but the convenience and cost of ride sharing companies is making it harder to do so. Uber and Lyft save so much time and money and is often times a more comfortable ride. It also helps knowing what the fare will be before the ride and eliminates the stress of figuring out how to pay for a ride. As technology becomes more advanced, it will be interesting to see how companies like Uber evolve and how important driverless cars will be for their business.
I agree with Munir, also Uber can be safer than riding a taxi because Uber has reduced the risks associated with getting from A to B because both passengers and drivers have profiles that can be checked before pick-up. Also Uber can help the government by providing the relevant data required to help improve public transit in ways such as cost and accessibility. It'll be interesting to see how long traditional cab companies will last.
The problem with Taxi companies is that they are outdated at this point. However Uber and companies like it struggle to make a profit. Ideally, I think I would like to see the Taxi companies modernize while Uber, Lyft and more would serve a more supplemental role in the market.
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