• Taxi Technology  Hail a Taxi? Yes! Prearrange One? No!  A
livery cab owner wants to slam the brakes on a proposal to allow
riders to pre-arrange yellow cab pickups with a smartphone app.
Imagine standing on a street corner, trying to hail a taxi, and
watching as empty cab after empty cab passes you by, on their
way to pick up other riders that have prearranged them from
homes or offices.  A proposal from the Taxi & Limousine
Commission (TLC) set for a vote tomorrow would allow just that.
The proposal—to permit yellow cab drivers to accept reservations
from riders using a smartphone app—is misguided and
shortsighted. If passed, it would not only make it more
difficult to hail a cab on the street, but would also present a
very real threat to public safety.  Allowing the use of a
smartphone-based reservation application would create a two-
tiered system that would actually make it more difficult for
many riders to hail a cab. While people with smartphones would
be able to reserve a cab remotely, those without