Opinion

Black cab, yellow cab

The black cabs are at war with the yellow cabs. And it’s no surprise that passengers are caught in the crossfire.

The latest battle is over software that allows riders who want a cab to hail one using an app on their smartphones.

The black cabs have been using that software for years. The yellows want to do the same.

Naturally, the black cabs want to keep that right to themselves. And everyone is suing.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because New York went through a similarly destructive effort two years ago, when the city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission moved to let riders outside Manhattan hail non-yellow taxis from the street.

When negotiations to open up the market broke down in the City Council, the Bloomberg folks got the state to pass legislation allowing the city to do so.

That time it was the yellow taxis standing in the way of more competition. And the state courts backed them by ruling that Albany’s law was unconstitutional.

Our view is simple: It shouldn’t matter what color a cab is.

New Yorkers would be better off with a system that makes all cab companies compete as equals — and leaves the choice of taxi to the passenger.