Seattle taxi industry revenue down big

Amelia Havanec • Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

Republish Article

You can republish articles in print or online. Simply copy the HTML below, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline, and credit to Cascade PBS. Republishing of the photos or videos embedded in an article can occur only if the photo or video is a copyright of Cascade Public Media ("CPM") and not of a third party. Photos and videos that are a copyright of CPM are not required to appear in the republished article, but if they are used, they must be embedded where they appear in the original article and must include the attribution to the CPM photographer.

You may reprint in any medium
You may edit only for tense and timeliness
If republishing in print you can edit for length if you follow our print republishing guidelines.
You may write your own headline
Include a byline and shirttail with credit and link to Cascade PBS
Include our tracking pixel
Remove if we ask

          <article>
            <header>
              <hgroup>
                <h1>Seattle taxi industry revenue down big</h1>
                <h2><p>The popularity of peer-to-peer ride-sharing companies – think Uber and Lyft – has led to a 28 percent decline in revenue for the Seattle taxi industry over the past two years, GeekWire reports. Uber operates without driver or vehicle caps while taxi companies are restricted in how many active taxi licenses they</p></h2>
              </hgroup>
               <p>By <a href="/author/amelia-havanec-crosscut-com/">Amelia Havanec</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
            </header>
            <p>The popularity of peer-to-peer ride-sharing companies – think Uber and Lyft – has led to a 28 percent decline in revenue for the Seattle taxi industry over the past two years, <a href="http://www.geekwire.com/2015/the-uber-effect-seattle-taxi-industry-revenue-dipped-28-in-past-two-years/?ref=avalancheghost.one">GeekWire reports</a>. Uber operates without driver or vehicle caps while taxi companies are restricted in how many active taxi licenses they can distribute. These restrictions are one of the reasons their revenue has declined to its lowest point since 2010.</p><p>But things are looking up for Seattle Yellow Cab, which launched their own free <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seattleyellowcab/id916550160?ls=1&mt=8&ref=avalancheghost.one">booking app</a> last year. They also upgraded their dispatch technology so cabs will arrive at their pickup location more quickly. The company, which has over 600 taxis in Seattle to date, has since cut their wait times in half. So while the taxis industry may appear to be losing the war, they haven't quite given up the fight yet.</p>
          </article>

The popularity of peer-to-peer ride-sharing companies – think Uber and Lyft – has led to a 28 percent decline in revenue for the Seattle taxi industry over the past two years, GeekWire reports. Uber operates without driver or vehicle caps while taxi companies are restricted in how many active taxi licenses they can distribute. These restrictions are one of the reasons their revenue has declined to its lowest point since 2010.

But things are looking up for Seattle Yellow Cab, which launched their own free booking app last year. They also upgraded their dispatch technology so cabs will arrive at their pickup location more quickly. The company, which has over 600 taxis in Seattle to date, has since cut their wait times in half. So while the taxis industry may appear to be losing the war, they haven't quite given up the fight yet.

Our members' donations make local journalism happen.

Support once for $1

Support monthly for $7

Cascade PBS Passport
Mossback members-only newsletter
Print Viewer Guide (opt-in)

Support monthly for $25

Invitation to quarterly news and original programming video conference
Annual in-person meet-up with news & programming teams
Special event perks (reduced price or free tickets, cocktails, etc.)

Continue

By Amelia Havanec

Amelia Havanec is Crosscut's Science and Tech Fellow. She came to Washington from her home state of Connecticut by way of New York, Florida, California and Michigan in pursuit of the perfect pint. Sh