Last weekend a young Palestinian mother named Maha Mohammed(ph) stood on the side of the deserted highway, cradling a baby and holding her young son's hand, as she tried for an hour to flagdownataxi to take her on what would normally be a 10-minute drive to the next town.
But the apps challenge a central tenet of the New York taxi market: Yellow cabs can accept customers who flag them down on the street, but cannot "prearrange" a fare by phone or radio.