Taxi drivers picketed at City Hall recently as a new pickup arrangement took effect at Philadelphia International Airport, saying the new setup will further harm their business.
“We are really, really angry,” driver Mohsin Mahmud said. “We are really, really frustrated.”
Cabbies in Philadelphia picketed outside City Hall on Monday, protesting the sharing of their prime pickup location with Uber and Lyft at the Philadelphia International Airport, a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer said. In February, the airport presented a new plan that would allow taxis to keep their pickup location but share it with rideshare companies. The change was made to improve safety for rideshare customers, who now outnumber taxi riders at the airport. The Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania and its vice president, Alassan Jalloh, sued the City over the proposal, claiming that moving to a new zone would harm their business and that it would be just as unsafe for taxi riders.
Jalloh dropped his case after the City presented an alternative option that would keep taxis in their prime location. But many drivers are still unhappy, and they want local leaders to help restore their designated space. Under the new plan, rideshare users can now meet the driver they hailed just outside of baggage claim.
The taxi queue is still in place in Terminals A, B and C, but it has been reduced in size. Taxis used to have space for 21 cabs across the three terminals, but now they can only fit nine. Taxi drivers argue that visibility is essential to their business, and not being in Zone 5 would damage their ability to earn money. Unlike Uber and Lyft, which have smartphone apps for travelers to hail rides, taxis rely on potential customers seeing them in real time.
Taxi drivers made it clear that they see no other alternative to save their livelihoods, and this protest is the last resort. They sent a memo to Mayor Jim Kenney about their complaints.
The airport made the changes to pickup zones “to ensure the safe usage of the roadway,” according to airport spokesperson Heather Redfern. Before they get to the queue, taxis are staged in a holding lot, which has space for up to 80 cabs. From there, they are dispatched to Terminals A, B and C to fill the queue after a cab leaves or is dispatched to Terminals D, E and F—which do not have a taxi queue—if requested by a traveler.
Philadelphia taxi drivers are not required to be part of the alliance, and many currently are not, Jalloh said. Some of those involved in protesting are considering creating their own organization to advocate for Philadelphia cab drivers.
Ronald Blount, president of the Taxi Workers Alliance, did not respond to The Inquirer’s request for comment. The airport spokesperson said that they would continue to monitor the needs of their customers and make changes as required. But the drivers promise to continue seeking help from city and state government officials, stating that they will not stop until their concerns are addressed.