NEW YORK CITY: Uber Temporarily Undercuts Fares Of Yellow Cabs
“UberX is now cheaper than an NYC taxi,” Uber proclaimed on its website on Monday. “From Brooklyn to the Bronx, and everywhere in between, UberX is now the most affordable ride in the city.” The move — an aggressive bid to capture an even bigger share of the city’s taxi riders — is a slap in the face to taxi drivers, whose prices are regulated. “Uber is taking over,” cabbie Ricardo Lopez, 60, a Staten Island resident, said after hearing the news about the Uber price cuts. “Uber is our biggest competition. They are making all the money for themselves.” “This is the type of competition that yellow taxis and green borough taxis cannot fairly compete with,” David King, an assistant professor of urban planning at Columbia University, told the Daily News.Uber's new fares are from $1 - $5 lower than yellow cabs, depending on the length of the ride. The company won't say how much longer the lower fares will last.
RELATED: There are currently about 13,500 licensed yellow cabs on the streets of New York City. The price of a taxi medallion can exceed one million dollars.
