Taxi companies: Uber driving away business

Services such as Uber are taking over the urban transportation business, and the community has mixed feelings about what that means for local cab companies.Uber is a transportation service that allows users to download an app on their phone and request a driver. Drivers are independent contractors and are selected at random. Users are then given the name, photo and license plate number of the driver who will be picking them up and are able to track the car as they wait.Uber drivers work for themselves, use their own vehicle and make their own hours. They are not subjected to the same licensing that taxi drivers have to go through, but they are required to pass specific background checks before they can work for the company.”I have an Uber account but only in case of an emergency,” said Benjamin Gogle of Swampscott. “I’ve never used it, but the T in Boston doesn’t run 24 hours a day, and I’ll have it in case a show runs later than the T.”I have mixed feelings about it,” he said. “On one hand I’m very much a firm believer of businesses being able to do whatever they want and I appreciate the convenience of it. But I’m also fully aware that it is serious competition for local taxi companies.”For some, it’s their entire livelihood, and it’s taking business away from them. So I appreciate what it represents as a customer, but I hate what it’s doing for other people,” he said.Local taxi companies agree that it has contributed to a change in business.”Taxi business has definitely dropped off,” said Robert Colucci, owner of Tom’s Taxi and Garcia’s Taxi, which both operate in the Lynn area. “A few years ago we owned 25 medallions and ended up selling some to Union Taxi. Now that there are more taxis on the street, it makes it even harder.”Medallions are displayed on taxi cabs to distinguish that they are licensed to transport customers. In Lynn, “taxi drivers have to apply through the city council and require a CORI check before you can put them to work,” Colucci said.The city allows 50 medallions, and Tom’s Taxi and Garcia’s Taxi have about 15 each, Colucci said. In the past, there were a lot more people trying to get jobs as taxi drivers than there are now, he said. He sold some of the medallions to Union Taxi.”The combination of that and Uber is making an impact on business,” he said. “The industry is definitely changing.”Jobita Rodriguez Rios of Lynn prefers to use Uber because “it shows you the car coming towards your house,” she said. “It also sends you a picture and says who is coming.”Rios said her sister, Yessica Rodriguez Rios, also from Lynn, relies on both cabs and says that while Uber is generally cheaper, local cab companies sometimes recognize her as a frequent customer and provide her with a less expensive rate.”Uber doesn’t have that fluctuation with what they charge,” she said.Taking an Uber is generally less expensive than taking a taxi because it isn’t regulated the same way, said Colucci.”Their insurance is a fraction of what ours is,” he said. “Ours is $10,000 per vehicle for auto insurance. They operate at a lesser cost then we do.””If I travel from Salem State back home, I am charged $11 or $12 if I use an Uber,” Yessica Rodriguez Rios said. “A taxi would charge me $20 or more for the same travel.”She uses Uber once or twice a week during the semester to get back and forth between school and home, she said.”Uber also provides me with the driver’s name, phone number, car model and make and the license plate number so I know I’m getting into the right car and not with some random stranger,” she said. “It makes me feel safer.””One reason I never really liked taking taxis is because you never know who is picking you up and who they are, but at least with Uber I can put a name and face on my driver,” Yessica Rodriguez-Rios said.Justra Gomez, who works in Salem, plans to become an Uber driver. She said it is a great way to earn an extra income on your own time.”I also heard that they are great about safety for not onl