Rise of Uber app takes a huge bite out of the New York taxi trade

The value of a taxi operating licence in New York has fallen by $200,000 in a single year amid the rise of on-demand car ride apps like Uber. To operate the a famous yellow cab in the Big Apple, drivers needs a licence known as a medallion. They are bought and sold between individuals and cab companies, but with just a limited number to go round the cost of them has continually risen, peaking at $1.05m last year. The medallions now set drivers back around $805,000, a fall of about 23%.

I have offers from people who want to sell their medallions for one-sixty, one-fifty, but there is no lending.

Mohammad Kamran, a taxi medallion broker in Chicago

It comes amid a surge in popularity for on-demand taxi apps like Uber, in which people can hail and pay for private drivers using a smartphone app in cities across the world. In the past six months, Uber’s value has doubled to $40bn, making it one of the world’s most valuable technology companies. It already surpasses the market capitalisation of Twitter and LinkedIn, and is closing in on Yahoo which is valued at $48bn.

New York taxi Business