Yellow cab drivers using 'Arro' app to pick up passengers

NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's bound to happen; thousands of New York City cab drivers are finally trying to fight the competitors at Uber and Lyft on their own turf, smart phones.

The app is called Arro and taxi drivers are using it to pick up passengers. But will it work?

New York City cab drivers don't have it easy these days.

"Sometimes I don't have a customer and I'm available and there's no customers in the street," Sharif Mussa, a taxi driver.

App based services like Uber and Lyft have decimated their business, but Mike Epley wants to change that.

"We hope this will bring some of the business back to yellow," said Mike Epley, the "Arro" app developer.

Wednesday night, he demonstrated "Arro" one of several new so-called e-hail apps, allowing you to order up your yellow or green cab by tapping a finger instead of raising a hand.

"It's going to be faster and more convenient than in the rain when you have one guy here and on guy here," Epley said.

So on a beautiful summer night with dozens and dozens of empty taxis trolling for business, Eyewitness News gave Arro a try.

Once the cabbie accepts the ride, you'll see his medallion number.

And then you wait.

Uber has cemented itself as such a dominant force, the three drivers Eyewitness News e-hailed all said they love the concept of an app just for them.

"Many ways to get the job, more jobs you get," Mussa said.

But raising your hand for a cab is as New York as a yellow cab itself. All things considered, some prefer to walk.

"It's too nice to take a cab you should be strolling down the street. It's 81 degrees," Eyewitness News Meteorologist Lee Goldberg said.

Maybe it will make more sense on a cold and rainy night, the cab industry sure hopes so.

For more information please visit: https://www.goarro.com/