Uber expands taxi operations in California

Furthering its partnerships with yellow taxi cab companies, ride-hailing company Uber earlier this week announced its latest collaboration with Los Angeles Yellow Cab and its five partner taxi fleets in Southern California.

This week's news follows pilot programs last year with Uber and taxi cab companies in New York City and San Francisco — two of Uber's biggest markets.

For riders in Southern California, specifically Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, the rider experience will virtually be the same; in theory, there will be shorter wait times as the deal adds an additional 1,200 Uber vehicles to the area. The expansion will result from six local taxi companies: San Diego Yellow Cab, California Yellow Cab, Los Angeles Yellow Cab, Long Beach Yellow Cab, Fiesta Taxi Cooperative, Inc. and United Checker Cab.

The fleets' combined service area will mean near continuous service in coastal California from the U.S.-Mexico border to north Los Angeles County, per Uber.

Once a rider is notified that they're matched with a taxi, they can decline and be re-matched with a driver who's not in a taxi or cancel the ride altogether. The experience overall with Uber taxi should generally mirror that of Uber X or any other Uber ride type. Uber TaxiRiders will pay the UberX rate and receive upfront pricing in the Uber app.

"After successful pilots in New York City and San Francisco, we're trying something new in Southern California, designed for even faster pickups and the same affordable prices," an Uber spokesperson said. "When customers request a ride with UberX, they might get picked up by a taxi driver if they're nearby."

In the way that Uber notifies you of your requested vehicle's color, riders will also see the cab's color (likely yellow) noted in the app, along with its license plate numbers.

"As we continue to strengthen our relationship with the taxi industry, we're excited to announce our partnership with Los Angeles Yellow Cab and its five partner fleets in Southern California," Camiel Irving, general manager of U.S. and Canada Mobility at Uber, said. "We're encouraged by the support from local regulators in California and look forward to continuing to work closely with our taxi partners to bring the benefits of this program to more taxi drivers and cities throughout the country."

Uber Taxis are currently only available in the aforementioned markets in Southern California, San Francisco and New York City as of September. However, the rideshare company has been securing cabs in global markets, including Europe and Asia, over the last two years.

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"Our partnerships with the taxi industry look different around the world and continue to evolve. Today, Uber has taxi partnerships in 33 countries and riders throughout the world continue to use the Uber app to request trips with taxis," according to Uber. "In some cities, like Istanbul and Athens in Europe in addition to Tokyo and Seoul in Asia, taxis are now our primary offering."

Uber taxis are widely available across Europe. For example, Uber partners with the largest dispatcher in Italy — IT Taxi — and reaches more than half the Italian population in six cities. Four thousand taxis are available for riders across six cities in Spain. In Turkey, there were more than 22,000 taxi drivers in 2022, where it's currently available in nine cities. As one of the company's largest taxi markets, Uber partners with hundreds of taxi companies in Austria.

In South America, Uber taxi has been available in Colombia via its TaxExpress partnership since September 2021, and it's currently bookable for riders in Bogota, Cali and Medellin. Since launching in 2020 in Buenos Aires, the company reports taxi trips on Uber increased 74% between April and July 2023; in cities like Mendoza and Tucuman, taxi drivers complete more than 10% of all trips on Uber.

One of the largest taxi markets for Uber that has continued growing is Hong Kong; Uber acquired HK Taxi, the city's leading taxi e-hailing app. In South Korea, Uber partners with SK Telecom for a joint venture called "UT," which is competing in the $7 billion South Korean mobility market.

With more vehicle options for riders in the name of taxis, drivers have also seen more profits due to increased ridership. According to data shared by Uber, taxi drivers earned an average of $1,767 per month from those trips alone, earning 23.8% more on average than taxi drivers who did not provide Uber trips in the second quarter of this year.

"Uber's ride referrals are going to help fill in our slower times and keep the drivers busy making money," Aydin Kavak, board member and operator of Yellow Cab of Los Angeles, said. "Drivers are going to benefit from this partnership for a long time to come."

When asked about frustrations from some riders regarding increased wait times, an Uber spokesperson disputed this, citing the more than 6 million drivers globally, which exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

"This inquiry is not one that we've seen, and data does not support this," the spokesperson said.

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