The last bit of cooperation between Uber and yellow cabs is going out the window.
The car-service giant is killing off the UberT option in three weeks — and as a further slap to the yellow hacks, it will soon be relaunched as a green-cab-only option in the outer boroughs, The Post has learned.
UberT saw a 40 percent decrease in ridership in the last two months.
The option was convenient for people who wanted to take a yellow cab but didn’t want to have to hail it from the street. It was particularly popular in lousy weather.
But it was unpopular with riders because of a $2 surcharge. Riders also didn’t like having to reach into their wallets to pay for the trip, rather than have a card on file that gets charged automatically through the app.
When UberT ends on Sept. 1, UberX will start offering green cabs in all boroughs without a fee.
Riders will also be able to charge their fares directly to their Uber accounts, as with UberX.
“Bringing green cabs onto the more popular UberX platform will be a boon for the struggling green-cab industry,” said an Uber spokesman.
“This change will help support the green-cab program, which provides reliable rides in the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan — areas that yellow cabs tend to neglect,” the spokesman added.
The Post has previously reported that sales of green-taxi permits have been sluggish, partly due to competition from app-based services like Uber and Lyft.
In 2015, green cabs did 52,000 trips per day compared to yellow cabs’ 400,000 trips, said Uber.
The outer-borough taxis mostly serve Brooklyn, which takes up 38 percent of the trips, then upper Manhattan and Queens with 28 percent of trips each and then The Bronx with 6 percent.
Green cabs also will take over UberWAV, the handicap-accessible option on the app. Accessible vehicles are currently available only through UberT.
The app also will be launching a pilot program for accessible cars in all five boroughs. Riders can order those cars via UberX.
“They’ve treated all drivers as if they’re disposable,” complained Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, predicting that the $2 surcharge would doom the plan to failure.
Editorial Comment.
It appears Uber's plan to dominate the market in New York has faulted.
The Tech company are now trying to play the Green (suburban Taxis) against the Yellow Cabs.
The true reason they have seen a drop in usage of UberT apart from the $2 surcharge, is the new Yellow Cab app "ARRO" which has had a dramatic effect on Ubers business.
ARRO operates on a similar platform to Uber -immediate hire, visual location and availability of vehicles- and has been extremely popular with New York cab riders (no price surcharging), and allows the passenger to make a card payment.
Good news for the London Taxis market as Credit Card equipment providers CMT will soon launch ARRO in UK.