Yellow cabs zoom toward $urge

SURGE PRICING could be coming to yellow cabs, and Taxi TV screens may be going, under new proposals approved by the Taxi & Limousine Commission on Thursday.

Apps used to hail yellow and green cabs — Curb and Arro are the two main companies — can bring surge pricing to e-hail trips under the TLC’s two-year “Flex Price” pilot, as long as they offer an upfront price before the trip starts.

Taxi officials hope this change will make riders used to Uber willing to take yellow and green cabs.

“This pilot leverages the natural capabilities of ehail apps to allow the taxi industry to compete for non-street-hail passengers,” TLC technology and innovation director Jeff Garber said at Thursday’s meeting.

The TLC has four approved e-hail apps for yellow and green cabs — Curb, Arro, Via, and Waave. Those companies can apply for the TLC’s Flex Price pilot and give taxi officials their own prices for trips.

Another policy taxi commissioners passed would allow companies that track trips and process credit card payments to ditch the backseat TV screens that are a common complaint among passengers seeking a quiet ride. If a company still wants to have a screen, it’ll have to be muted from the start.