Good morning. It’s Tuesday. Today we’ll look at Throo, a new entrant in the highly competitive ride-share market in New York.
Is there room in New York City for a ride-share service to compete with Uber and Lyft? Although those two services have gobbled up about 80 percent of all for-hire and taxi rides in the city, new entrants keep trying to break their stranglehold on the multibillion-dollar business. One of the most recent newcomers is the Throo app offered by TADA, a company run by Kay Woo, a Korean tech executive. As my colleague Stefanos Chen explained, Woo has persuaded about 50,000 drivers in New York to install Throo as an alternative to Uber and Lyft. For the past few months, Woo, 44, has been recruiting cabbies in spots where they congregate, like a waiting area at LaGuardia Airport in Queens. His pitch: Throo can offer lower fares for customers and higher pay for drivers by charging drivers a smaller fixed fee per ride and reducing charges that normally are passed on to riders. Throo, which is authorized to operate in New York, started offering its service in June. On some routes it has been undercutting the better-established apps. For example, Throo was charging $80 for a standard trip from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to Kennedy International Airport. A similar ride would have cost $136 with Uber and $134 with Lyft. TADA, based in Singapore, is far from the first company to try to crack what is essentially a duopoly created by Uber and Lyft. Uber itself controls more than half of the market for ride-hail and taxi trips in the city, according to the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. But Woo is counting on converting drivers displeased with their earnings. Full-time drivers who relied on ride-share apps last year were paid a median of $75,000 — marginally better than the $73,000 they earned in 2021, but the figures do not include expenses, taxes or tips, according to city data. Uber and Lyft take an average commission of about 20 percent, not counting some additional government fees, according to the T.L.C. Drivers using Throo still have to pay taxes and fees, but the company says it charges $1 or less per fare, leaving a bigger cut for the driver. “We take care of the driver first, and the driver can take care of the riders,” Woo said in an interview. Antonio Rivera, 50, a Dominican driver who lives in the Bronx, said he had been actively seeking an alternative to the bigger apps when he heard about Throo and added it to his rotation. “Uber and Lyft, they’re not treating drivers nice,” Rivera said on a ride from Long Island City to LaGuardia. The fare to the airport was about $24. After commission, taxes and fees, he said, he might collect $11 or $12 from one of the bigger apps. But with Throo, he received about $19. “It’s a pretty good deal for us,” he said. But another driver, Waseem Manzoor, said he gave up on Throo in July after trying it. Manzoor, who lives in Queens Village, said he was displeased with how Uber and Lyft treated drivers and found Throo’s low-fee model appealing as a potential source of additional fares. But he said he found that he did not earn more by using Throo. Woo said it was “inevitable” that some drivers would become frustrated. Throo will not pay more than its big competitors for all rides, he said, depending on the time of day and level of demand. But he insisted that most Throo rides would result in 10 to 15 percent bigger payouts for drivers, and that trip volume would grow. Josh Gold, a spokesman for Uber, said the company welcomed competition from apps like Throo. But he felt differently about an app called Empower that government officials said was operating illegally and owed the city more than $45,000 in fines. The city is seeking an injunction to ban Empower’s parent company, Yazam Inc., from operating in New York, because it has not complied with licensing rules, does not pay required fees to operate and does not share trip information with the T.L.C. In March, the company said it was completing 100,000 rides per week in the city, despite its unclear legal status. Midori Valdivia, the T.L.C. commissioner, said the city could not ensure the safety of Empower’s fleet of vehicles and that drivers who used the app could face fines and lose their licenses. “I want to make sure word gets out that they are unlicensed,” Valdivia said. Gold said it was “really shocking” that the government was allowing Empower to evade the rules. A representative of Empower said New York officials had “repeatedly rejected” its offers to “facilitate the assessment and payment of any taxes or fees” that their drivers should pay. WEATHER Look for mostly cloudy skies, a high near 79, with showers likely and a possible thunderstorm. Tonight, rain is expected to continue with a low around 70. A flood watch is in effect. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until Aug. 15 (Feast of the Assumption). QUOTE OF THE DAY “I feel like we’re part of something kind of exclusive.” — Amanda Quinonez on attending the 2 a.m. screening of “The Odyssey” at the AMC Lincoln Square. High demand for the blockbuster at the IMAX theater prompted additional screenings at 2 and 6 a.m. The latest New York news
We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. METROPOLITAN DIARY Janine and Bobby
Dear Diary: “Bobby!” It was late when the woman on the downtown platform at West Fourth Street shouted the name. When Bobby didn’t appear, she walked the length of the platform, searching in all caps — “BOBBY!” — insistent enough that the rest of us looked up. Locked eyes. Understood. A meeting had been arranged, and Bobby, wherever he was, had missed his connection. The frustration in the woman’s voice was clear, and when she met my gaze, her thoughts were as loud as the B train beside her: He isn’t here. Now what? Without an answer, she boarded the train and disappeared into the night. Her B was soon replaced by our F, and when we slid into Broadway-Lafayette, a man joined us — a late-night gardener, if the enormous weed whacker he carried was any indication. Broadway-Lafayette became Second Avenue. He tipped out over the platform. “JANINE,” he shouted. I have never been more delighted. Here was Bobby! With a weed whacker! “Sarah,” my husband said quietly. “Please do not …” Too late. Did he not see that Bobby and Janine were star-crossed and required my help? That I had been preparing my whole New York life to leap to their aid? “Are you Bobby?” I asked. He was! “I’m looking for her!” he insisted, Brooklyn thick in his words. She is on a B train, I told him. “What’s she doing on a B?” he said. “Now I gotta follow this woman to Sheepshead Bay!” I like to imagine he did just that: Bobby and his weed whacker backtracking to find his way to the B and to Janine, shouting his name across myriad platforms, as the subway carried them both into the New York night — all the way to Sheepshead Bay, and to each other. — Sarah MacLean Ms. MacLean is a writer. Her most recent book is “These Summer Storms.” Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. — P.M. Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
