Ride sharing worries local taxi boss
Kingston Kabs owner says presence of Lyft and Uber could hurt his business
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The owner of taxi company Kingston Kabs fears his business will suffer when ride-sharing services become legal across the state at the end of this month.
Lyft already has announced it will start serving the Kingston area as soon as the new state law takes effect June 29, and Uber could follow soon after.
Kingston Kabs owner and President Jeff Weintraub says the local presence of the ride-sharing companies — whose rates will not be regulated by the city, as his are — could force him to shed employees.
“They are hard-working people trying to make a living instead of asking for help from the county,” Weintraub wrote in a letter to Mayor Steven Noble. “I can say with certainty that none of them are in financial position to buy a car, pay for livery insurance, gas and main-
tenance.”
Weintraub has run Kingston Kabs for 25 years and has 35 employees, he said. “What will happen to them? Will they lose their jobs provided by a local business to international conglomerates who have no loyalty to them whatsoever?” Weintraub wrote to Noble. “I have lent money to my employees, helped bury them, fought for them with the city. I don’t see any of this happening with the people you believe are the answer to the transportation infrastructure.”
Weintraub said Kingston last raised the maximum in-city rate he can charge in 2011, to $5.50 per ride. Cab fares in the city are set by the Common Council, and the mayor must sign off on them.
Weintraub noted that, for now, companies like Uber and Lyft, whose customers generally arrange rides through a smartphone app, do not face fee regulations. He also said his potential employees are subject to intensive criminal background checks by the city police department.
He said the ride-sharing companies should be subjected to similar rules so that all can operate “on a level playing field.”
“It is my opinion that allowing Uber, Lyft and similar entities to operate without following the guidelines of the City Taxi Ordinance also means that there is no reason for us to adhere to it as well,” Weintraub wrote to the mayor.
Weintraub conceded his company has had some problems serving customers well — “There are a lot of faults in my operation, in the taxi industry overall” — but said that “whatever help we can get form the city and county that will help improve our service, that would have the potential to allow us to increase the service.”
Noble said in an email to the Freeman last Thursday that “the availability of this type of service (ride sharing) will provide our residents with an additional transportation option and will provide employment opportunities for those eligible and interested in participating as drivers.
“I look forward to seeing the operation of ridesharing companies in the Kingston area,” the mayor said.
Lyft spokesman Adrian Durbin said last week that his company had signed up hundreds of drivers in the Kingston area and is “adding more every day.”
Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, who met with Lyft officials in Kingston in mid-May, said Monday that while he appreciates Weintraub’s concerns, he is glad that ride sharing finally is taking root in upstate New York.
“It is deeply frustrating that upstate New York was one of the last places in America to be opened up for ride sharing like Uber and Lyft,” Hein said.
He said such services “can become a distinct benefit to our citizens, whether it is getting to work, getting to a doctor’s appointment or avoiding the tragedies of drunk driving,” and that companies like Uber and Lyft will have a positive impact on tourism in Ulster County.