The concept of ride-sharing, exemplified by popular services Uber, Lyft and their corresponding apps, is still a fairly fresh transportation trend. Unlike regular planes, trains, and automobiles, ride-sharing apps constitute startup business models that have the potential to disrupt entire transport ecosystems—especially in regards to the already robust taxi fleets in major cities like New York. Will taxi fleets be a thing of the past, lost by the wayside like horse-drawn carriages?

1. WILL RIDE-SHARING
VANQUISH NYC’S
YELLOW CABS?
Presented by BCB Property Management

2. RIDE-SHARING
The concept of ride-sharing,
exemplified by popular services Uber,
Lyft and their corresponding apps, is
still a fairly fresh transportation
trend. Unlike regular planes, trains,
and automobiles, ride-sharing apps
constitute startup business models
that have the potential to disrupt
entire transport ecosystems
—especially in regards to the already
robust taxi fleets in major cities like
New York.

3. VIA
New York City could in theory
pull a whopping 85% of its
yellow cabs and still service
98% of commuter demand. This
would come with huge
consequences, both good and
bad.
BECAUSE THE REMAINING
VEHICLES COULD BE RIDE
SHARE APPS...
New research out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
suggests that, if passengers get on board with the car-pooling
elements of ride-sharing services, New York City’s transportation
network could be supported by as few as 3,000 vehicles; just 1/4 of its
current 14,000 yellow cabs
Are Taxi Cabs A Thing of The Past?
LYFT
JUNOGETT
BLACK
CAR
SERVICE
UBER

4. Thousands upon
thousands of drivers
would lose their jobs.
Congestion could clear
up significantly along
with pollution.
O F C O U R S E , T H E S E P R E D I C T I O N S A R E S T I L L L A R G E L Y
S P E C U L A T I V E . T H E Y O P E R A T E O N T H E A S S U M P T I O N ,
F I R S T O F A L L , T H A T C O M M U T E R S W O U L D B E W I L L I N G
T O U S E R I D E - S H A R I N G A P P S A N D , I M P O R T A N T L Y ,
S H A R E T H E I R C A R S W I T H O T H E R P E O P L E . S I N C E M A N Y
P E O P L E C H O O S E C A B S T O A V O I D S H A R I N G S P A C E
W I T H S T R A N G E R S , T H I S A S S U M P T I O N M A Y B E A
S T R E T C H .
Ride Sharing
Negatives vs. Positives

5. WHAT ABOUT AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES?
Autonomous vehicular technology
would, in practice, plan routes
most efficiently. The whole point is
that less traffic, smarter vehicles,
and ride-sharing would make cab-
hailing (and even driving)
unnecessary.
Without autonomous vehicles, you still get traffic and accidents,
meaning more drag-time on the road. It’s true nonetheless that
autonomous technology is progressing rapidly, with investments in
the field growing too. But the fact remains that most Americans are
simply not interested in autonomous vehicles, and cite a lack of trust
as a big reason.

6. ....BUT WHAT IF
AUTONOMOUS CARS
DO CATCH ON?
PBS speculates that this would
simply lead to more congestion
and emissions, as people would
choose go about their
professional or personal activities
enroute. If people are willing to
work, eat, and sleep on the road,
this is certainly a possibility. So
the question becomes, are New
Yorkers more likely to get
comfortable in a driverless car for
a grueling but hands-free
commute, or rub up against
strangers for a fast one?

7. WHATEVER THE CASE, NEW
YORK CITY’S TAXI DRIVERS
APPEAR TO BE BRACING
THEMSELVES FOR CHANGE,
WHATEVER MAGNITUDE IT MAY
BE AND HOWEVER SOON.

8. $15,285
TAXI MEDALLIONS
ARE GOING FOR 1/2
OF THE $1.3 MILLION
RECORDED
JUST THREE YEARS
AGO
According to the New York Times...
THE AVERAGE
NUMBER OF DAILY
TAXI TRIPS HAS
BEEN REDUCED BY
100,000 IN
COMPARISON TO
SIX YEARS AGO.
As more people grow comfortable using apps to catch rides, the
decline of yellow cabs isn’t just inevitable. It’s already
happening.

9. The Future...
In a way, the vanishing of taxis, if and when
the time comes, will be the end of an era.
Yellow cabs have become synonymous with
New York life: a quintessential flash of color
in a sometimes gloomy cityscape. It’s hard to
imagine the city without them. But nostalgia
can’t erase the fact that ride-sharing is
cheaper, easier, and more efficient than
sticking your hand into the street and hoping
to catch a car at random.

10. If taxis become obsolete, is transport system run by ride-sharing
startups ideal? Judging by the recent backlash against the Uber,
perhaps not. Ride-sharing companies, still only about decade old,
have a lot of kinks to work out in order to prove that they are in the
drivers’, employees’ and customers’ best interest. Given the fierce
competition, we’ll likely see adjustments in the market to meet the
demands and preferences of the public. If the result is black
instead of yellow, so be it.

11. THANK YOU!
w w w . b c b p r o p e r t y m a n a g e m e n t . c o m