Yellow Cab to file bankruptcy in SF, will release new app to battle Uber and Lyft

Your undying love for Uber and Lyft are helping to destroy the taxi industry in San Francisco. That, and a ton of lawsuits.

Yellow Cab will soon file for reorganizational bankruptcy, and cites dwindling business (thanks to rideshare companies) as a major factor. Yellow Cab Co-Op President Pamela Martinez told members it was in a period of “serious financial setbacks.”

While Martinez admitted lawsuits relating to accidents are also a contributing cause for its poor financial state, she also said the co-op is “faced with fiscal obligations that far exceed expected income.”

Yellow Cab currently has about 530 medallion holders, and 300 shareholders.

Oddly enough, Martinez thinks growth will save Yellow Cab. In her letter to the membership, she wrote “We must get more shifts and more drivers paying them. This is our principal source of income.”

There’s also a new app in the works for Yellow Cab, which Martinez says will come out within the next two weeks. Like Uber and Lyft, it lets users store payment info in-app. No word on whether or not it predicts how much a trip will cost ahead of time; the real attraction for many users who’ve ditched the taxi service for ridesharing.

➤ Yellow Cab to file for bankruptcy [San Francisco Examiner]