By Anne Kadet
With the weather cooling off and pandemic numbers dropping, New
York City is slowly getting back in action -- and that means people
are hopping back into taxis, Ubers and Lyfts. But as riders are
discovering, a lot changed in the for-hire ride scene during the
coronavirus lockdown. Some may want to rethink their habits.
With the number of taxis on the road still down more than 50%
from pre-pandemic levels, for example, it has gotten harder to hail
a cab on the street. Pooling with fellow riders to save on fares,
meanwhile, is no longer an option on any of the ride-share
platforms.
On the upside, one ride-share app started offering discounts to
those willing to wait a bit longer for their wheels. And thanks to
a new app feature rolled out by the taxi guys earlier this month,
you can now get a guaranteed flat fare upfront when e-hailing a
cab.
Curb Mobility, the Queens-based company behind the taxi e-hail
Curb app says that while in years past, Uber and Lyft fares were
typically lower than cab rates, New Yorkers now will find the
reverse.
"We're about 10% cheaper than Uber or Lyft," says Curb's vice
president of mobile, Jason Gross.
I was happy to see this last development. I'm always rooting for
the city's cabdrivers, and they were hit especially hard by the
lockdown.
According to the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, the
number of trips a day recorded by ride-share companies such as Uber
and Lyft was 54% lower in July than a year earlier. Yellow cabs
reported an even steeper decline of 87%. Taxi drivers who stayed on
the road also saw a big year-over-year drop in average gross weekly
earnings, to roughly $800 from about $1,300.
That is because the business that yellow taxis rely on --
Manhattan street hails and airport runs -- has all but dried up.
Uber and Lyft, meanwhile, were traditionally stronger in the outer
boroughs and never took street hails.
While cab trips jumped 30% after Labor Day weekend, compared
with August's average, according to Curb, the taxi industry is
still flailing. Will upfront pricing give cabdrivers a new
advantage?
It might if their fares were lower. But in the admittedly
unscientific 20-sample price comparison I ran last week, I found
that while Curb's fares were typically lower than Uber's, they were
roughly comparable to Lyft's.
Curb offered the lowest price in 10 of the samples, compared
with nine for Lyft.
When I shared my results, Mr. Gross said Curb's upfront rates
are designed to mimic what a customer would pay if the ride were
priced by a city-regulated taxi meter, taking both time and
distance into consideration. It will most often offer the lowest
price in periods of peak demand, like during a rainstorm. "There's
no surge pricing for us," he says.
I took a few test rides on Curb in Brooklyn and Manhattan and
found reception among drivers was mixed. Nasser Alabsi, a driver
from Yemen, said the upfront fares often weren't worth taking. "All
the way to East Flatbush for $11? It's an insult to us," he
said.
Others said the upgrade has encouraged more riders to summon a
cab via app in a time when few are hailing taxis. "It gets more
business," said Baber Badasha, who drove a yellow cab in Manhattan
for 45 years but recently switched to driving a cab around
Brooklyn.
Indeed, Curb reports that e-hails now account for 30% of all cab
rides compared with 15% before the pandemic.
So what's the best e-hail bet for riders these days? I'd go with
Lyft. I like knowing that even if the fare is low, the driver will
still be earning the city's mandated $17.22 an hour after expenses
that applies only to the largest ride-share companies. This also is
the case with Uber, but I found Uber's fares are typically higher.
(Curb isn't subject to drivers' minimum-wage requirements.)
I also like that the Lyft app provides public transportation
routes, fares and schedules along with the ability to locate,
unlock and rent the nearest Citi Bike from the company's 1,000-plus
station locations around the five boroughs. It can serve as a sort
of all-in-one app for getting around town, a spokesperson
notes.
Another unique Lyft feature -- the new Wait & Save option.
On a recent weekday morning, for example, the upfront fare for a
trip from Brooklyn Heights to Wall Street was $18.27 with a
one-minute ETA to be picked up. With Wait & Save, the fare was
reduced to $17.03, with an arrival guaranteed within 15 minutes.
The company says that the busier it is, the more one can expect to
save.
Uber, which has far more vehicles on the road than its rivals,
may be a good choice for those who just want speedy service. Uber
says its average wait time is less than the five minutes reported
by Curb.
And if one's sole concern is simply getting the lowest price --
a legitimate concern for many New Yorkers -- it is best to compare
Lyft and Curb before booking a ride. Frequently, one offers a fare
more than 20% lower than the other.
So will New Yorkers bother to download yet another app to
compare fares? That's about as easy to predict as anything else
these days. "It's a good question," said Mr. Gross. "Something
we're going to find out."
Write to Anne Kadet at Anne.Kadet@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 22, 2020 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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