SAN DIEGO - The next time a rider grabs their phone to order an Uber ride, they might be offered a taxi instead.
Uber and Los Angeles Yellow Cab are entering a new kind of ride-sharing arrangement, forming a partnership to service customers, it was announced Tuesday.
The multi-year partnership is part of a larger agreement between Uber and major taxi operations in Southern California.
"Taxi drivers will gain access to Uber trip referrals, providing them with more earnings opportunities, cities will get less empty miles driven, and riders will have faster pickups," Uber said in a statement.
Uber will combine operations with Los Angeles Yellow Cab's five taxi fleets servicing Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.
Akbar Majid, Vice President of Ride Yellow San Diego, said the new venture is a win-win-win for Uber, local taxi drivers and riders.
“It will benefit the taxi drivers because they will have more trips in their taxi cabs,” said Majid. “The recent study shows, in San Francisco, which they launched a year ago, the income from taxi drivers increase by $1,700 a month for those drivers participating in this program. We are anticipating the same here in San Diego.”
A similar taxi partnership also operates in New York City.
Under the program, which begins this week, taxi drivers will gain access to Uber trip referrals, providing them with more earnings opportunities. In turn, the riders will get faster pick-ups.
Riders will be notified if they are matched with a taxi through the Uber app. Users will have the opportunity to decline the match and try again if they feel more comfortable doing that.
If the user elects to take the cab, they will pay the UberX rate. Riders will receive pricing up front in the app.
Majid said riders will have the option to pick up a taxi or Uber ride from any area in the county besides the San Diego International Airport.
The airport will come at a later time, but riders can still be dropped off.
