New York City yellow cabs have taken a back seat to Uber

uber

The growth in popularity of ride-hailing apps like Uber has affected ridership numbers for New York City's yellow cab industry over the past several years.

But the once David and Goliath relationship between competitors now looks much more even.

For the first time ever, more people took Uber than yellow cabs, according to some number-crunching from the New York Times. The Times reported that in July, Uber had an average of 289,000 rides per day while yellow cabs came in second with 277,000.

The report credits Uber's growth mainly to its availability in the outer boroughs where yellow cabs have become an increasingly rare sight. Half of Uber's rides in New York City now start in an outer borough. That is up from 25% two years ago.

This will add pressure to an already stressed yellow cab industry. Taxi medallion prices have fallen from a high of over $1 million in 2013 to less than $200,000 currently. In response to the drastic fall in medallion values, the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation recently approved a task force to study the medallion market.

But following Uber's banishment from London, these numbers must be a welcome sight for the Silicon Valley unicorn.

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