Antonio Cruz, 50, a Brooklyn resident who drives for Uber two days a week, said he was concerned that the new Uber-taxi partnership could mean more competition from yellow cabs, especially on the days when he works in Manhattan. “We could lose business,” he said.
Bruce Schaller, a former city transportation official, said the short-term benefit of the deal was to provide Uber with access to more drivers.
“If they’re saying they’re fine with drivers now, fine, I just don’t buy it,” Mr. Schaller added. “With the pandemic plus gas prices, more drivers is always good. Even if they have ‘enough,’ having a bigger base of drivers out there is good for Uber.”
At Uber’s investor day in February, Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s senior vice president of mobility and business operations, said the company wanted every taxi in the world on its platform by 2025 and that it had already added 122,000 taxis to the app last year.
Uber’s deal with taxi companies in New York could also put pressure on its rival, Lyft, to respond.
“I would expect Lyft to make a similar deal — in fact I expect them to make the exact same deal,” Mr. Schaller said. Lyft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The new Uber-taxi partnership in New York did not require the approval of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which oversees the taxi industry, city officials said, though the agency will still have oversight of the rules covering all for-hire drivers.
“We are always interested in innovative tools that can expand economic opportunities for taxi drivers,” said the agency’s acting commissioner, Ryan Wanttaja. “We are excited about any proposal to more easily connect passengers with taxis and look forward to learning more about this agreement between Uber and the taxi apps and ensuring it complies with TLC rules.”