CHICAGO—A new report suggests that the taxi industry in Chicago, home to the country’s second-biggest taxi fleet, may be close to going out of business due to ride sharing services.
About 42% of Chicago’s taxi fleet was not operating during March, and cabbies have seen their revenue slide by nearly 40% over the last three years, according to a study released Monday by the Chicago cab drivers’ union, USA Today reported.
More than 2,900 of Chicago’s nearly 7,000 licensed taxis were inactive in March 2017 — meaning they had not picked up a fare in a month, according to the Cab Drivers United/AFSCME Local 2500 report, USA Today said. The average monthly income per active medallion has fallen from $5,276 in January 2014 to $3,206 in 2017.
More than 350 foreclosure notices or foreclosure lawsuits have been initiated against medallion owners already this year, compared to 266 last year and 59 in 2015. Since October, lenders have filed lawsuits against at least 107 medallion owners who have fallen behind on loan payments, according to the union, USA Today reported.
The union is calling on the city to take several actions to provide relief for Chicago’s taxi industry, including changing rules so taxi drivers aren’t required to replace their vehicles as often, waive an annual $1,176 per taxi ground transportation tax fee, and eliminating a city medallion license renewal fee that costs owners $1,000 every two years, USA Today reported.