New York City has hosted some of the most popular carpooling and ridesharing formats practically since the rise of the motorcar, with the famous New York Yellow Cab growing to prominence as early as the 1910s. While on the surface it seems to be almost perpetually in gridlock, the public transportation infrastructure of New York is actually one of the most robust in the world. In fact, it has one of the largest and most efficient commuter rail networks, comprehensive bus lines (oh, buses can issue traffic tickets, by the way), and tunnel systems, among many other accolades. And with the turn of the century, there are other players in the game: on-demand ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber.
These companies represent one of the primary means of getting from Point A to B in the capital of the world, offering several benefits (at certain costs) over the traditional Yellow Cab. Features like passenger ratings, differing fees, expanded transaction options, and so on allowed these companies to carve out their own niche. But recent controversies and shifting ideologies have again moved the goalpost to arguably one of the riskier but cheaper worlds of illegal rideshare apps and under-the-table taxis.
There are apps offering a variety of services, some more above-board than others. Companies like Empower are now directly encroaching on both private companies like Lyft and medallion-holding taxicabs, and they do it without requiring drivers to hold a New York-issued Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) license. While it sounds like a sound idea in principle, it’s actually illegal to accept fares in New York City without such a license, and it comes with certain risks. Let’s take a look at what these services are and why they’re so controversial.
What are these rideshare apps?
The nuances of ridesharing in NYC are somewhat muddled and complex, so let’s keep this simple with this straightforward rule: If you don’t have a TLC medallion, you’re outside the loop. Various companies fill this niche, ranging from big-name apps to individuals accepting fares from their private cars; obviously, the latter can’t really be accurately tracked, so we’ll stick with the former. The biggest current name is Empower, which promises to pay its drivers the entire fare; that’s a big deal because companies like Lyft take out a commission. In fact, Lyft got into hot water lately over controversy with the split it takes from drivers, which it claims is 70/30 in the driver’s favor, a figure that’s been disputed to the point of raising class-action lawsuits…