New York Metropolis’s yellow taxis have been a logo of the metropolis for many years. However taxi drivers solely make up about 10% of the entire driver panorama within the metropolis — giving approach to Uber and Lyft.

Whereas that is largely as a result of client selection and the convenience of ordering a ride-share automobile, it is also a results of the powerful work situations taxi drivers have confronted. They work a mean of 9.5 hours a day, 6 days every week, in accordance with the Nationwide Library of Drugs. As well as, to driving a taxi, drivers must personal or lease a medallion, which may break the bank. 

Medallions reached a hefty value of over $1 million within the early 2010s after being artificially inflated by predatory lending, the lure of a uncommon asset, and trade leaders purposefully overpaying.

Costs subsequently tanked with the rise of Uber and Lyft which brought on nice anguish for drivers who owned their very own medallion. The COVID pandemic made issues even worse as taxi hailers grew to become nearly non-existent.

“With the federal government shutdowns of assorted cities because of the COVID pandemic, a variety of drivers moved to completely different areas of labor,” mentioned David Do, commissioner of the New York Metropolis Taxi and Limousine Fee.

Now, taxi drivers are preventing for area within the trade as they get better from the medallion disaster and COVID-19 pandemic.

So, will taxis survive the altering trade? 

Watch the video to study extra.