by Jason Snell
SF’s Yellow Cab may file for bankruptcy
Carolyn Said (former MacWEEK editor!) in the San Francisco Chronicle:
Yellow Cab, like the taxi industry worldwide, has seen its business ravaged by upstart ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft, which charge lower fares and can flood the streets with cars. Taxi companies say that the newcomers benefit from looser restrictions.
People are spinning this as being because of Uber and Lyft, but it looks like it’s more about the company losing a bunch of big lawsuits.
Still, make no mistake: San Francisco is a terrible taxi town. The taxi system is corrupt, inefficient, and politically protected. I pity for the cab drivers who are just trying to make an honest buck, but if ever there was an industry that deserved to be disrupted into tomorrow, it’s San Francisco cabs.