All over the world, rideshare services like Uber and Lyft are destroying the taxi industry. London however, has had enough. The city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan has plans to level the playing field a bit. If this strategy works, other metro areas like New York and Los Angeles are sure to follow.
LONDON MORE BOLD THAN NEW YORK; UBER AND LYFT FACE DESTRUCTION
Up until now, cities like New York and London have let Uber and Lyft grow in popularity. Consumers don’t have any complaints, however, the taxi industry is feeling it hard. To help even out the playing field, Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to integrate black cab information into the city’s journey planner next summer. He hopes this strategy will increase awareness of the options and even highlight certain benefits over public transportation. Furthermore, he hopes to increase the number of taxi ranks to 600 by 2020.
LONDON GOES GREEN WITH TAXIS; NEW YORK TAKES NOTES ON WHAT TO DO WITH UBER AND LYFT CRISIS
Besides spreading information on London’s black cab service, Mayor Khan wants to bring zero-emission cabs to the city by 2018. To do this, Khan suggests several thousand dollar grants that will help motivate drivers to buy greener taxis. To support this change, the city will be building an EV charging network. As one would expect, Uber and Lyft are already complaining about these plans, even though it doesn’t really have a direct impact on their industry. Allegedly, the company has sent emails out to users telling them to protest Khan’s initiate. Will this be enough to scare New York out of doing the same?
WILL NEW YORK TAKE AFTER LONDON? IS THE UBER LYFT THREAT REAL?
Khan is making some bold plans right here. It’s unlikely that many other major cities will follow suit until the results pan out. Rideshare companies seem like they’re ready for battle but since nothing has actually happened yet, their influence is not known. Perhaps they will have a major impact on Khan. On the other hand, they may not. Ultimately, it’s up to the consumers to decide.
