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Hail Hail: TLC Approves Smartphone Taxi Hailing Apps
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 13, 2012
Modified Dec 13, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 13, 2012
Modified Dec 13, 2012
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The future of taxiing in New York was voted on today, and it's now only a few tomorrows away: the Taxi and Limousine Commission has approved a pilot program that will allow people to use their smartphone to hail a yellow taxi. After a 7-0 vote in favor (with 2 abstentions), the pilot program will begin a one-year trial starting in February. And this is bound to change everything we thought we knew about upstreaming entirely.
“This is an exciting day for taxi riders,” said TLC Commissioner David Yassky in a press release. “It’s the TLC’s job to represent passengers, and when new technology comes along, we want to make sure it’s available to them. New York City is known for embracing innovation, and we’ve certainly done that today.” According to the release, passengers will be able to “e-hail” nearby taxicabs using apps like Uber, Hailo and GetTaxi on their smartphones within a half-mile "in the city’s central business district south of 59th Street from east side to west side," or within a mile-and-a-half elsewhere in the city.
Some members of the TLC have been anxious about not having enough time to review the proposal properly, while others expressed concerns about the possibility of users getting ripped off on prices. But Yassky was adamant that the city should "not ignore technology that's out there. This is not speculative. This is real technology. We can look to other cities and see customers using these products and benefiting from them."
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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