How Yellow Cabs are Using Technology to Improve their Business Fortunes

The presence of various dispatch- taxi apps services like Uber, Lyft, Ola, has significantly disrupted the traditional mode of transportation.  Suppose you are new to a city and still figuring your way out, then understandably, it would be very hard for you to trust the local cabs. With no one to answer to, no ways to get in touch with them, and no option to avail of a fair tariff, the highly unregulated yellow cab drivers are their own boss. This is not the case with an Uber or a Lyft. The drivers are kept in check with certain policies and in the case of any problem, the rider can always contact the support helpline provided in the apps.

Current operational mode of cab drivers

The fate of yellow taxi has been uncertain and on rocky roads since the introduction of App based cabs.  Earlier, ‘for-hire’ drivers found it a very tedious process to find someone to fill their back seats. They had to face substantial idle time before they could find a passenger in the vicinity. The emergence of several dispatch-taxi apps eased the process of finding riders for the drivers.

What this meant for drivers is that they could cut down on the idle time. They could take passengers the traditional way from their present location. During idle time, they could be aligned to cab aggregators’ services and make themselves available to the passengers who have booked their ride through the smartphone apps.

How regulations might play spoilsport?

This practice may, however, be put to an end. Under proposed legislation at many places like New York, the taxi drivers could be effectively barred from working for more than one company.

The rule was proposed with a view to protecting the interests of the drivers and passengers, as-  

• In situations where an attempt was to be made to recover a lost property of a passenger, it was becoming very difficult to trace the driver.

• There was no way to figure out the identity of the driver of a taxi dispatched by a non-affiliated base. It hindered the safety and customer-protection rules which have been put in place.

The traditional yellow taxi fleet is strongly supporting this and why should they not? They have finally found a breach in the till date well-fortified base of their nemesis.

Let’s go into details with the repercussions of this proposed rule:

• Sharing and Caring? No more! The rule will prohibit one company from dispatching another’s vehicle if there is an absence of a proper agreement between them. Earlier, the companies could share the resources and dispatch the vehicles according to requirements. This would come to an end.

• Can’t I just work for all the parties out there? The drivers would be dissatisfied as earlier, they could earn more money with the constant demand for rides. Now their customer base would reduce significantly and idle time would increase.

• Who is going to pay the bills? Due to fewer rides covered, the drivers would now have lesser income to match their daily expenditure of fuel or expenses incurred in wear and tear.

• Well! Hello! Public transportation This would lead to increased pressure on the public transit systems as they would now have to accommodate a larger number of commuters. The yellow cabs may accrue some benefit in this regard if they play their cards right.

• I will come to work but only if you increase my salary There is a positive aspect to it as well. Many drivers think that due to this rule, the companies would become aggressive in their approach to wooing the drivers. The companies may offer various incentives to the drivers so that they come and work for them. Uber which is a pretty dominant player may defeat all the uber clone apps by doing just that. But travelers will have to wait and watch how things actually unfold.

What does this mean for the traditional taxi fleet?

Yellow taxi services looking to integrate and work through an uber clone dispatch system would turn out to be the biggest beneficiaries of this regressive legislation. With various improvements in the near future, yellow taxis may get the upper hand when it comes to driver satisfaction. If the proposed rule comes into action, the yellow cabs would be able to cover a large customer base as compared to their rivals. It all depends on how the future of the market turns out- the steps their arch rivals will take to improve their revenue generating potential.

Things are slowly getting reversed. It is quite ironical that the smartphone-based app which revolutionized the entire taxi dispatch system is now becoming the main cause of its disruption.  The question remains- Will the very reason for which apps like Uber exist lead to its downfall? Will the yellow cab drivers have the last laugh? There’s so much at stake that it would be interesting to see how the battle unfolds. We will keep you posted!