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Morning Edition
Cathy Wurzer and Gracie Stockton

As Uber, Lyft departure looms, taxi CEO says industry is 'very good at pivoting'

Uber taxi app
If Uber and Lyft make good on their threat to stop service in the Twin Cities by May 1, it could mean a boom in business for the taxi industry. But there are far fewer taxis now since ridesharing entered the market about a decade ago.
David Ramos | Getty Images

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Minneapolis City Council Member Andrea Jenkins will ask her colleagues Thursday to reconsider an ordinance boosting rideshare driver pay, as a potential departure by Uber and Lyft looms.

If the companies make good on their threat to stop service in the Twin Cities by May 1, it could mean a boom in business for the taxi industry. But there are far fewer taxis now since ridesharing entered the market about a decade ago.

Blue & White Taxi has been in the Twin Cities for nearly a century. Its CEO and co-owner Waleed Sonbol told MPR News his industry is “very good at pivoting” as new challenges arise.

According to the Star Tribune, there are only 14 taxis licensed in Minneapolis. Several local companies, however, are located in metro suburbs. Blue & White is headquartered in St. Louis Park, because of high fees and minimal infrastructure, Sonbol said.

“Most of the business isn't there for us anymore,” Sonbol explained. “If people started coming out of hotels or coming out of the convention center, there's no cab stands even for them to sit at anymore for there to be taxis there.”

Over the years, cab stands were taken down, transitioned to private property, or were converted to Uber and Lyft loading zones — “which we were told wasn't going to happen,” Sonbol said.

Much of the taxi industry now takes on contracts such as non-emergency medical transportation and account work, according to Sonbol.

“During COVID, we went and built shields in our cars and filtration systems, so that we could continue, and so we got a lot more business done when most people weren't driving for Uber and Lyft,” he said.

Sonbol believes Uber and Lyft’s threats to leave are a bluff, and pointed to the rideshare companies’ past petitions for support at other state legislatures. DFL Sen. Omar Fateh is among several lawmakers considering a statewide solution this session.