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Temporary restraining order blocks Uber and others from New York City operations
In a move which should surprise no one who's been following along, New York City livery car groups successfully won a bid yesterday afternoon for a temporary restraining order against New York City's smartphone-based hail pilot program ("e-hails," if you will). This effectively shuts down any (limited) plans UberTAXI and others had for getting back in business in Gotham -- both Uber and Hailo are being stopped from operating in NYC as a result. Under the pilot program -- approved earlier this year but mired in legal drama ever since -- services like Uber and Hailo could be used in NYC's approximately 13K yellow cabs. Livery cab businesses in NYC have sought to stop the program's implementation via legal means. Its latest effort, the "application for interim relief," was admitted via lawyer Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn, and cites the following as its reason for the temporary restraining order: "Absent emergency relief, petitioners and the public will suffer irreparable injury to their livelihoods, businesses and industry, fundamental rights and environmental interests, all of which will be impossible to remedy after this case is resolved in petitioner's favor."
Uber gets go-ahead for New York City e-hail service
Talk about magical and revolutionary: the manual and unpredictable task of hailing a taxi is being completely overturned by mobile devices. In many American cities, app vendors like Uber are disrupting the livery and taxi business by providing quick and predictable service at the tap of a button. The roster of cities with e-hailing service is missing a major entry, however; the Big Apple. With the largest US fleet of yellow taxis plus some arcane service regulations, New York's market is a huge prize for the app vendor that establishes early dominance. Several rounds of testing and potential rule changes later, the city is ready to start piloting e-hail services at last. Valleywag reports that the legal challenges to NYC e-hails have been cleared, and Uber is the first out of the gate. The popular service is now approved to provide e-hail service during the 12-month pilot program on New York streets. Unlike some other cities where Uber provides coverage, payment to taxi drivers is not yet included in the service; you have to pay the driver directly. (Uber's other classes of service, covering livery cars, "black cars" and SUVs, all include integrated payment.) Of course, Uber's not the only app vendor aiming at the country's biggest taxi fleet. Competitors like iTaxi, Taxi Magic and Hailo all would like a piece of the pie. Competing service Hailo actually sent out a beta e-hail announcement to potential users of its service in New York, but there's a slight hitch: the TLC's pilot has no provision for beta or soft launches. Either you're approved or you're not, and right now Uber is; Hailo is not.
NYC taxis may have to wait longer for app hails
Fans of taxi-finder apps like Uber, Hailo and FlyWheel may have to wait a bit longer before they can raise their iThumbs to flag down yellow cabs in the US' busiest urban area. Per the WSJ, a lawsuit by livery cab drivers may block a rule change that would allow app-based hailing in NYC. While iPhone apps to summon a taxi or "black car" ride are popular in other cities, New York's slightly Byzantine rules governing for-hire cars have made it challenging for these apps to make inroads in the Big Apple. The city's iconic yellow cabs can respond to street hails, but for many years have not been allowed to take phone reservations or centralized dispatch. The lawsuit contends that an e-hail is equivalent to dispatching, and that these apps will encroach upon the for-hire car market. The chairman of the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, former city council member David Yassky, didn't mince words in his statement responding to the legal maneuverings. "This suit seeks to keep the taxi industry and New Yorkers in the dark ages... Next thing, they'll be suing restaurants to go back to wood-burning stoves. Our rules allow for e-hail now, and the only question is, do we embrace these new services and ensure that consumer protections are in place, or listen to obstructionists and watch e-hail apps proliferate without any regulatory input." Back in December, the TLC approved a year-long pilot test of app-based hailing for yellow taxis. The earliest possible start date for that test was February 15, but now it's possible it may take even longer for the service to kick off. An earlier test by Uber had to be canceled due to too few participating cabs and too much demand, not to mention that the TLC hadn't yet figured out how e-hailing was going to work in the city. Meanwhile, livery cabs, car services and corporate cars can indeed be dispatched by phone and by app -- Uber's app already covers most of NYC's business district -- but they aren't allowed to pick up arbitrary passengers on the street (although many flout the rules). On recent trips to Chicago and San Francisco, I was pleasantly surprised by how effective Uber's cab service was, with a ride showing up promptly in almost all cases (one attempt at rush hour in SF's downtown financial district didn't pan out). I would certainly take advantage of an e-hail tool in NYC, assuming the interested parties ever sort out their disputes. [via Transportation Nation and Crain's New York]
