Yellow Cab Co-Op is preparing to reorganize under Chapter 11 in the face of mounting debt, a pile of lawsuits, and steep competition from rivals Uber and Lyft, the San Francisco Examiner reported on January 6.
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SAN FRANCISCO-The Yellow Cab Cooperation is San Francisco’s largest taxi company, with over 500 fleets in operation, and about 530 medallion holders.
“On an annual basis, over five million passengers are transported in Yellow cabs”, Martinez wrote in the letter. The startups are attacking on all fronts – they offer less expensive and more convenient rides, and also attract Yellow Cab’s drivers, Rodriguez writes. Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez of the San Francisco Examiner has been covering this story, and joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson with details.
The value of a New York City taxi medallion, the metal plaque affixed to the hood of yellow cabs that allows drivers to pick up street hails, has dropped by over 40 percent in the last five years.
Your undying love for Uber and Lyft are helping to destroy the taxi industry in San Francisco.
Yellow Cab is a cooperative co-owned by 300 shareholders who haven’t received dividends since October, Gillespie told the Examiner. It appears to be the first bankruptcy of a major cab company in the post-Uber era. Either way, the company says it has already started filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy, but has no plans to close after restructuring.
In a statement, the company pointed to these suits as the primary reason for the move toward bankruptcy, explaining “We have had an unusual number of accident claims recently that have forced us to consider this as an option”.
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While the taxi company countered that it merely provides vehicles and a dispatch service and does not directly employ drivers, a California Superior Court judge ruled that because the driver was an “ostensible employee”, Yellow Cab should pay $8 million in damages.
