Yellow Taxi’s Looking to Fare with Uber and Lyft

Uber and Lyft may have pushed some buttons of Yellow Cab owners, but San Diego’s Yellow Cab President Anthony Palmeri is ready to push them back, literally.

In the first of its kind, Palmeri is creating the “Ride Yellow” button, akin to Staples big read “Easy” button. As a B2B solution, the button would exist in hotels, hospitals, restaurants, etc. to provide a quick access tool for their customers to hail a taxi.

To be competitive with the ride-sharing unicorns, Palmeri is slashing the typical fare from a base of $2.80, $3 a mile and $24 for idle time to $2 base, $2 per mile, $20 an hour for idle time. Plus, there will be no “surge” rates that Uber and Lyft utilize during peak demand hours.