Instead of being paid directly through an app-based account, as in the case of ride-hail drivers, cab drivers would still have to go to their companies to get their payments processed. But the city would still require cab apps to be linked to in-vehicle credit card processors, limiting drivers’ access to apps, said Meg Lewis of Cab Drivers United. He proposed letting cab drivers accept pre-arranged fees through phone apps. Emanuel also proposed removing fingerprinting requirements for cab drivers, a requirement that Uber and Lyft drivers don’t face. Yet ride-hail vehicles can be any age as long as they pass inspection. One proposal would extend the maximum allowed age of taxis from seven to 10 years, or 11 for fuel-efficient cabs. ![]() Last week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel (whose brother Ari is a major investor in Uber) proposed a few changes he claimed would “create a level playing field.” They didn’t go very far in that direction. Expect those numbers to increase steadily.ĭrivers who financed a few medallions, thinking they had a secure investment – and then paid for it with thousands of hours of hard work – stand to lose the wealth they thought they’d built up and find themselves saddled with crippling debt. But some 900 medallions had received foreclosure notices by March of this year, according to a union report, and 147 foreclosure lawsuits had been filed. ![]() The union estimates that 40 percent of the city’s cabs are inactive, and their medallions headed for foreclosure.įoreclosures were unheard of a few years ago, but are ramping up. Monthly revenues are down 40 percent over the past three years, and no longer cover average operating expenses, according to Cab Drivers United (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2500). Since then, the taxi industry has been slowly collapsing. They would work off the loan and have an asset with which to finance their retirement.īut in 2014, the city allowed ride-hailing companies to operate unlimited numbers of vehicles. It was a good investment, and drivers took out mortgages to buy medallions from the city. Just four years ago, when there was a strict limit on the number of taxis in the city, medallions were selling for $350,000. ![]() That’s what’s happening, and it’s a direct result of the city changing the rules of the game. ![]() But I’d argue that even the most discriminatory driver didn’t create the extreme racial segregation in which we Chicagoans live, where fear is one of the main factors keeping people divided.Īnd it does no one any good to drive people who’ve worked hard all their lives, and are often people of color themselves, into economic penury. The taxi industry did a poor job serving black communities in particular. Most of them are immigrants and people of color. Hundreds of small owner-operators who account for 40 percent of the city’s medallions face economic devastation. The advent of ride-hailing companies, mainly Uber and Lyft, has dramatically expanded the number of for-hire vehicles in the city and improved service in traditionally under-served communities of color.Īt the same time, it has precipitated a collapse in the taxi industry and a new foreclosure crisis involving loans used to finance the once-valuable medallions required for taxis.
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