Uber, Lyft winning over Portland taxi market

PORTLAND, Ore. — Uber and Lyft have quickly absorbed half of Portland’s taxi business since they were allowed to operate here in late-April, and regular cab companies and their drivers are feeling the pain, the Portland Tribune reported.

An interim report on Portland’s four-month experiment in taxi deregulation showed that Uber, Lyft and other transportation network companies handled 43% of taxi calls in May, which grew to more than half the market as the month wore on, according to the report.

Traditional cab companies, who have more expensive dispatch systems and were mandated by the city to have fleets of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, in-cab video cameras and other costly features, find it hard to compete financially, the Portland Tribune said. 

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