Race On for Taxi Apps
By early next year, hailing a yellow cab in New York City could be as easy as whipping out a smartphone and pressing a button. That is, unless the companies that run the city’s livery fleets succeed in blocking a rule change in a key vote next week.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission is expected to vote Thursday on rules that would allow the use of smartphone applications for hailing and paying for cab rides for the first time. But representatives for other for-hire vehicles have mounted a fierce behind-the-scenes lobbying effort to block them.