Going out tomorrow night for NYE? Planning on drinking? Well, be sure to have a designated driver or a taxi – which may be hard to find.
According to reports, 50% of Raleigh taxis are planning on boycotting NYE due to the unfair advantage given to Uber for competition.
WRAL has more:
Iyman Massoud, a cab driver who says he represents a group of about 650 local taxi drivers, says they are protesting that Uber drivers are not subject to the same licensing, registration and insurance fees as taxi cab drivers. This allows Uber drivers to charge less, creating what Massoud says is unfair competition.
Raleigh has about 1,200 taxi cabs, but Massoud said many drivers have left for other cities due to Uber. Massoud added that his group has asked Raleigh officials to regulate Uber drivers, but city leaders did not take up the issue after they were presented with a petition from cab drivers during an August City Council meeting.
“People are just suffering,” said Elmutaz Adloa, a cab driver. “They cannot make a living out of this industry.”
Seeing as Uber has a special surcharge that they charge during holidays, tomorrow Taxis might have had the upper hand.
