the future

Soon You Can Use Your Smartphone to Hail a Taxi

Yellow Taxi cab, Manhattan, New York City, USA.
Photo: Jon Arnold/AWL ImagesJA/Corbis? Jon Arnold / AWL Images

The road to electronically hailed taxis has not been smooth, with the apps that call cabs first being blocked by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, then being green-lit, then being held up again by a lawsuit from livery cab owners who say they violate the city’s ban on prearranged rides in yellow cabs. On Tuesday, the judge in that case lifted a restraining order on the apps, saying they weren’t comparable to the situation that led to the ban. The upshot: You’ll soon be able to hail a taxi from inside the bar. Welcome to the future.

Soon You Can Use Your Smartphone to Hail a Taxi