Uber Cars Have Overtaken Yellow Taxis in New York City The embattled ridesharing startup is making a dent in the Big Apple.
By Nina Zipkin
If you're in New York City, you're more likely to come across an Uber black car than your traditional "I'm walkin' here!" yellow medallion cab.
While the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) permits 13,587 taxis to be out and about at any given time, there are now reportedly a total of 14,088 Uber cars in the city. That's no small feat for the embattled startup, which was founded in 2009 and made its way to NYC in 2011.
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Worth noting, however, is that traditional yellow taxis still make 10 times the number of trips Uber cars do in the city, the New York Post reports.
Uber owes its popularity to the ease of its application: users can request a car using the app and choose from options that include getting a ride in a black car from licensed livery drivers. Yellow taxis can be hired through an option called Uber Taxi, but in this breakdown, they aren't considered Uber cars. In other cities, the company's UberX service allows for everyday licensed drivers to make pickups. However, in New York, all drivers and vehicles must be certified through the TLC.
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Uber, never a stranger to controversy, has been in the news lately for its handling of user data and in some instances, passenger safety. The company's Paris office was raided by authorities this week as part of an investigation into its carpooling service UberPop, which was also just banned in Germany. Yesterday, it was revealed that Uber CFO Brent Callinicos would be leaving the company after just two years on the job.
The company also recently rolled out an initiative to hire 1 million female drivers around the world by 2020.
Related: Uber Pledges to Enlist a Million Female Drivers by 2020
