Mr. Yassky.

Tomorrow morning, New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission will hold a momentous vote at its headquarters on 33 Beaver Street concerning two sets of proposed rules--one of which could radically alter the taxi hailing experience for New Yorkers.

That highly contested proposal calls for changing e-hailing rules that have traditionally given yellow cabs province over street hails, where black cars and livery cabs focus on prearranged rides. If passed, those e-hail rules would open up New York's massive, much-coveted market for yellow cabs to any request-a-ride app that meets guidelines and secures a license.

So rather than having to hail a taxi on the street, these apps will let you flag down and pay for a taxi with a few taps of your smartphone.

The best stat we've seen to support the need for such technology: at a public hearing on the proposal last month, it was estimated that New York taxis only spend 40 percent of their time on duty occupied with a passenger. On the other hand, we can't really picture our mom getting the hang of it, considering she has yet to understand the soon-to-be-extinct "Off Duty" light.

Initially, the TLC tried to solicit e-hailing apps by putting out an request for proposal. Uber, Hailo, Get Taxi, Taxi Magic and Cabulous all applied. But in October, the TLC threw out the idea of bureaucratic RFP in favor of a free-market approach. Once you have the license, there's just the small matter of dominating the competition.

The TLC opted for a similar free-market strategy with the second proposal up for vote, which calls for upgrading the TV screen and credit card swipers in the partition of your taxi (referred to by the agency as T-PEP). Earlier this year, Jack Dorsey's mobile payments company Square ran a pilot program testing iPads in the back and iPhones in the front as an updated alternative. But that program was cut short after the TLC decided to throw out the RFP--once its exclusive contract Verifone and CMT expires in February--in favor of allowing for more competition and, in theory, more innovation with T-PEP 2.0.

We talked to TLC chairman David Yassky by phone to get some insight into what to expect at tomorrow's vote and what happens if the proposals pass. (You can find the TLC's reports on e-hailing and T-PEP 2.0 presented at last month's public hearing embedded below.)

An open-market approach could mean a lot of change for taxi riders in New York. I was wondering if you had a sense of what to expect if there are multiple T-PEP vendors and multiple licensed apps. How do you see that rolling out?

On T-PEP, there are two companies that do this work today in the taxis. I don’t think you’ll see a big influx of other companies looking to compete in that market. It’s a specialized product; it’s not as easy as it looks. If it was just credit card processing, then there are plenty. But it’s mobile credit card processing in a taxicab. It involves a lot of support equipment that’s part of the same system--text messaging to the drivers, trip records that we rely on for our enforcement and lost property, so it’s got to be accurate. I guess I think that the reason to move from a contract to a set of standards is so you allow for the possibility of competition. I think that will keep the pressure on the existing companies to keep serving their customers well and keep coming up with improvements, even. But you may not even see any new entrants, or maybe at most one or two.

But even if Square came into the picture, that would mean something very different in terms of iPads in the back of taxis.
It does open it, and you may see another competitor and with that innovation, so that would be good. Just to be realistic about what to expect, I don’t think it’ll be "a thousand flowers bloom." The barriers to entry are significant. It’s a fair amount of hardware you have to put in the taxis.

And what about the app side?
That’s the classic environment for a tech startup. I think to have a successful one, you need a certain amount of market penetration, but you can get up and running with a certain amount of investment. The market is untried and untrodden, so nobody quite knows what appeals to customers. So there I expect you'll see a decent number of competitors.

I was talking to Jay Bergman, the New York CEO of Hailo, who suggested at the public hearing that there be universal integration to help app providers who want to work with, say, three T-PEP vendors. Is that something the TLC is inclined to stipulate?

There are two different issues. Sometimes standardization helps a market develop. Like with what used to be called videocasette recorders and then used to be called DVD players. Sometimes a standard helps competition flourish, right? Maybe a better example would be Apple's approach to their iPad and iPod products, where you let a lot of other companies play on your platform. So we do want to make the T-PEP system available as a platform for apps to utilize. That's part one. But another reason to prescribe ways of doing business is customer protection. So, for example, we want to make sure that the fare that is on the meter ends up being the fare that is charged to the passenger. What we're trying to do in our rules is do both those things: make T-PEP a platform that's available, but not restrictive for app developers, and at the [same] time have some basic level of restrictions that are necessary to insure customer protections.

Another thing Mr. Bergman brought to my attention, which was also mentioned in the public hearing, was downgrading e-hailing to just the idea of a broadcast technology that puts out a beacon for riders in search of cabs, but doesn't actually connect them with taxis. The notion was put forth by some of the incumbents, so you're just broadcasting a rider's location.

Look, if we're gonna bring e-hailing apps to New York, we're gonna do it right, and we don't want a kind of half measure that won't provide real service to customers. What customers want is to be able to send a signal out to taxis and then know if a taxi is coming. You don't want a customer not knowing, saying, "Huh, here's an empty cab just went by, should I get in it, or wait for the guy who's on his way to get me?" For the system to work, the customer needs some feedback from the driver. We don't prohibit that, we absolutely allow the broadcast model too. Maybe customers will provide that. Our general approach is the customer knows best what he or she wants and what works for him or her.

Are you at all concerned about fragmentation in the market? If you look at mobile payments apps like Square Wallet, for example, everyone from Dunkin' Donuts to Walmart has their own app and that's led to maybe less adoption than you would have seen if there were one dominant player.

I figure that's really one where the market sorts it out.

Apps also offer different payment structures in terms of what they charge for their service. Uber, for example, initially wanted to take a percentage of a 20 percent gratuity to drivers. 

On this front, we just want to make sure there is full disclosure to the customer. So if the customer thinks that he or she is tipping $3 to the driver, you want that $3 to go the driver. You want the customer to know what they're paying for the taxi fare itself, which better be what's on the meter. If they're tipping, you want the passenger to fully understand what their tip is, and if there's a service fee or surcharge that the app is charging, you want the customer to understand that.

Do you have a sense of the commissioners' openness to these proposals?

I've gotta tell you, this has been really one of our best debates. We've had a really full and searching debate on the substance and merits, and there are arguments both ways. The taxis in New York work pretty well. Whenever we're considering an improvement, I think the the argument "it ain't broke, so don't fix it," is something you want to take seriously, right? The taxi system works really well for the 600,000 people a day that taxis transport. This has been one where we fully vetted the arguments about possible disruptions to that existing service, but I think weighing appropriately the opportunity for improvement. There's not unanimity of opinion about how to weigh the pros and cons here.

There has been significant opposition from industry incumbents. Do you think there's a chance that this could end up in court like the plan for borough taxis?

I think, like with borough taxis, the basic idea is quite sound. In the end, sound ideas generally win out.

How much has the mayor been involved with these proposals?

This started because the TLC put out these proposed rules as part of the Bloomberg administration’s overall communications to keep New York City at absolutely the forefront of technology acceptance and embracing it.

There has been some debate about whether it's the TLC’s job to protect one market segment, like livery cabs, from being hurt by innovation. App companies have complained about heavy lobbying against their product. In public testimony, the TLC has said that’s not their responsibility.

That’s part of the process. We should absolutely expect that business will try to protect their interest and make argument to regulators in service of their interest, and sometimes public policy does coincide with one or another’s interest and sometimes it doesn’t. We should expect that companies will be vigorous advocates for themselves. When I see that phenomenon, which I do frequently, I’m not surprised. I’m sure you’re not surprised either.

I think the commissioners have done a good job hearing all sides. What you termed ‘incumbent,’ are businesses open in New York City that employ New Yorkers. Their viewpoints are entitled to respect, and regulators would be doing a poor job if they didn’t listen. That doesn’t mean that you automatically accept them. Oftentimes businesses know better how a proposal will affect them than a regulator does.

Have you tried out e-hailing apps for black cars, like Uber?

I personally have not, although several TLC employes have, so I’ve been able to get their sense [of the] customer experience.

What did they say?

I, uh, the reason I don't want to answer that question is that we’re not advertising for one company or another. I can tell you which of the two pizza places near 33 Beaver Street employees prefer, but I would have to tell you off the record.

E-Hail Commission Presentation FINAL

TPEP 2.0 Presentation JR v3

Smartphone and the City?

In a packed boardroom across from City Hall last week, members of the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation met to discuss the Taxi and Limousine Commission's plans for a smartphone app that will allow riders to digitally hail and pay for yellow cabs, with just a few taps of their phone. The TLC shared the results of a survey--conducted through backseat screen, naturally--which found that almost 70 percent of passengers owned a smartphone and that 50 to 60 percent of respondents want an app that lets them find and pay for taxis.

The testy standing-room-only crowd didn't shy away from cheering (when Councilman Vincent Ignizio accused the TLC of secret plans to destroy the livery cab industry via e-hailing apps) and jeering (Councilwoman Darlene Mealy, who represents Bed-Stuy and Brownsville, pointedly rolled her eyes when a TLC rep implied it's not that hard to find a cab to the outer-boroughs.)

The notion of radically altering as iconic a New York moment as flagging down a yellow cab was met with wariness and derision from council members. It's hard enough trying to explain the off-duty sign to tourists or parents visiting from out-of-town--imagine if you had to instruct them on how to navigate an app. "What happens if you are a senior citizen or a disabled person and you do not have access to the apps or you don’t know how to work with them?" asked committee chair James Vacca. "Somebody with an app will be able to hail a cab and you’ll be standing in the street longer than you normally would."

The primary concern seemed to be creating a two-tiered system, one that privileges tech-savvy smartphone owners traveling around downtown Manhattan, credit cards in hand. The second major worry was the potentially devestating impact on the city’s black car and livery cab providers. Historically, for-hire vehicles have had the monopoly on pre-arranged rides, while yellow taxis pick up passengers off the street.

The TLC is the agency responsible for regulating and licensing city taxis. Whereas the City Council, on the other hand, "doesn't have a lot of power to do a whole lot, other than to make noise, which they seem to do reflexively,” a source familiar with city politics said when asked about the council's authority over the TLC. Nonetheless, testimony and off-the-cuff answers from Ashwini Chhabra, the TLC's dapper deputy commissioner of policy & planning, offered the clearest picture yet of the agency's thinking on e-hailing, credit card processing, and competing with livery cabs.

Mr. Chhabra revealed that the TLC plans on releasing a set of rules for comment on those issues "as early as October."

The urgency surrounding the matter is tied to the request for proposal (RFP) for a city-sanctioned smartphone app that was released in March. For the first time, Mr. Chhabra revealed that 19 companies have submitted proposals. That includes startups like Uber, Get Taxi, Hailo, and Taxi Magic, which have all publicly acknowledged their bids. But the RFP focuses primarily on in-app credit card processing that would work with the existing T-PEP system (the credit card readers and screens run by Verifone and Creative Mobile Technologies through an exclusive contract with the TLC.) “It did not contemplate hailing functionality,” said Mr. Chhabra, although the TLC asked to hear about that feature.

The folly of requesting specs for e-hailing before the TLC had promulgated rules on how that should work it was not lost on Mr. Vacca. But Mr. Chhabra seemed convinced that could be done simultaneously and wouldn't require postponing the RFP.

He reminded the council that T-PEP contracts are scheduled to expire in February, which might open the way for something more smartphone-friendly. "We will need to provide specs for T-PEP 2.0," he said, pointing to the city's pilot program with Square, Jack Dorsey's mobile payments system, which has run a pilot program in 13 vehicles replacing T-PEP with iPads in the back seat and iPhones in the front. "We have received positive preliminary feedback. If the final results of this pilot program are similarly positive we will allow similar solutions as part of the T-PEP 2.0," said Mr. Chhabra.

Earlier this month, Uber tried to jump the gun on the RFP and expand its existing request-a-ride offering from black cars and hybrid cars into New York's yellow taxi market. (This brash, bulldozing approach seems to be something of a pattern with Uber. Currently, the DC Taxi Commission is butting heads with the startup, although the chairman of the FCC is a fan.) Here in New York, Uber's bum-rush was quickly shot down when the TLC started notifying drivers that using payment or e-hailing apps was punishable offense, but only after the TLC permitted Uber to offer free rides to New Yorkers for a week.

"I can tell you that looking at the availability of cabs this morning on one of these apps, it looked like there were four yellow taxis available in the whole city," Mr. Chhabra said with whiff of amusement.

Uber did not speak at the hearing, but a trio of Hailo ambassadors were present, sporting bright yellow company T-shirts. Jing Wang Herman, CEO of Get Taxi's U.S. operations, offered testimony explaining her company's approach, which offers an option to sidestep the e-hailing issue by sending the passenger a beacon to locate nearby taxis, "without pre-arrangement."

From the tech world's perspective, the TLC's response to Uber has been anti-innovation--a hallmark of bureaucracy and counter to Mayor Bloomberg's pro-startup agenda. But hearing the City Council's concerns clarifies the number of legitimate and troubling issues in play. In fact, during the hearing, the agency came across as eager to move fast and break things, as Zuck might say. "It is not the rightful function of government to protect one segment of an industry from competition from another segment," Mr. Chhabra said. "So long as passengers win and the industry over all wins, our goal to be to encourage innovation and forward movement."

Here are the problems any startup that wants to offer their app in yellow cabs will have to keep in mind:

SAFETY FIRST!

If you think texting while driving is hazardous, try to imagine responding to a request for a ride from within an app. After a council member quipped about implanting computer chips in drivers' brains (to make sure there hands stayed at two and ten), Mr. Chhabra retorted, "I don't think we have to go as far as a chip in the brain, maybe Google Glasses." He explained that the existing T-PEP system, which is occasionally used to dispatch messages to drivers, only delivers the message when the cab comes to a halt. TLC is looking for an app that offers a similar technological fix for that issue.

YES, THE MTA WOULD LIKE A RECEIPT

Currently, the MTA takes a 50 cent tax on any ride where the passenger pays with a credit card, and the council pointedly wondered how that would work with apps. Mr. Chhabra responded that the T-PEP system currently offers "a full accounting" of everything from the rate of fare to taxes and tolls accrued during the ride. "I want to be clear that when we look at apps as technological innovation they have to be that, we don’t want to take a step backward," he noted. "If apps are going to be permitted to play some of that functionality, then they will also have to bear some of the reporting requirements and tax collect requirements."

HAILING FOR THOSE WITHOUT A SMARTPHONE

Mr. Vacca, the committee chair, came back time and again to his fear of a two-tiered system. "A lot of the people that I represent don’t have credit cards. A lot of people in the Bronx don’t have checking accounts. They have cash. I want to protect those people too. They’re entitled to a cab. How are we protecting the person of limited means who is entitled to our care like anyone else?" he asked, wondering whether the TLC had studied smartphone ownership outside of the Manhattan Central Business District, where the TLC said most yellow cabs have to operate. (We didn't have the heart to tell Mr. Vacca that no amount of innovation was likely to improve Bronx residents' chances of finding a yellow cab willing to take them home.)

Mr. Chhabra responded he didn't want to prevent anyone from paying with cash, but didn't really offer a picture of how a smartphone app would allow that. He did, however, point out that the smartphone apps already being used by black cars and livery cars, like Uber, allow a texting option. "So that’s something we would explore as well," he said. During the TLC's testimony, Mr. Chhabra also said where e-hailing may be "particularly disruptive, for example in taxi stands or transit hubs and at airports, we will seek to prohibit the use of these apps."

IS THIS EVEN LEGAL?

As last week's hearing, it quickly became clear the relationship between the council and the TLC was contentious at best. Members questioned the TLC even had the authority to permit e-hailing considering that it could affect the millions of tourists who come to New York City every year, especially without clarifying the rules around it. "It's like you've become this superpower and something is wrong with that," said Ms. Mealy. But political bluster aside, it'll take more than mass-adoption of smartphones to squash these legal issues. Back in June, for example, a state judge blocked the TLC's plans for livery cabs that could pick up street hails called "borough taxis" after the judge found that "Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration improperly skirted the City Council to get its plan approved in Albany."

OUTER-BOROUGH DISCRIMINATION

Many of the council members present represent constituencies in the outer-boroughs and seemed particularly concerned about discrimination when it comes to both appearance and destination. For those of us that have kicked out of the backseat of a taxi once we utter the word Brooklyn or Queens, it's not hard to see the danger in disclosing our end point to a driver via an app. But Mr. Chhabra said an app that doesn't disclose your destination could "introduce an element of colorblindness." This elicited some laughs. Almost every council member who spoke felt compelled to share their story of being denied a ride because they wanted to go to the airport or the Bronx, despite the fact that drivers are legally required to take you there.

Another argument Mr. Chhabra made in favor of smartphone apps was that they, "may also serve to reduce deliver reluctance to take trips out of Manhattan, if drivers think these apps can provide a greater prospect of finding a passenger for a return trip." It was at this point that Mr. Vacca talked about how of the people he represents don't have smartphones.

DEATH TO LIVERY CABS?

The notion that the TLC is not responsible for protecting one segment of the industry, which could refer to its contracts with Verifone and CMT, did not sit will with Mr. Ignizio, who worried that offering pre-arranged rides via yellow cabs would cut into livery cab margins. "That's true in a free market," he said, but as a government agency, the TLC should "ensure that both survive and thrive. I don't believe they want a livery industry. The TLC wants to be the big base station that's the unstated goal of the TLC," he ranted, eliciting a "Hallejuah," from the older gentleman sitting next to Betabeat. Mr. Vacca echoed those sentiments when he told Mr. Chhabra, "It's within your purview to cushion an industry."

Mr. Chhabra pointed out that black cars and livery cabs are already using these smartphone apps themselves, but said the TLC would be vigilant about monitoring negative impact. During earlier pre-written testimony on behalf of the TLC, he pointed out that the same concern was voiced when the agency discussed offering credit card processing. The TLC heard back that some businesses now allow employees to use yellow cabs because they're able to pay with a card and get a receipt. "But no one would suggest that credit card readers is a bad idea. Not least of all the 100 million plus passengers, who pay for taxis trips with credit cards each year."

SLIM MARGINS

Councilman Fernando Cabrera wasted no time getting to point, asking "For these app companies, how are they gonna make money?" The council was concerned whether riders or drivers would have to pay a premium for this enhanced mobile service. (When Uber discussed its yellow cab plan with Betabeat, the company proposed a flat 20 percent tip to cover its service. That's a little lower than the average credit card tip since the TLC installed those automatic tip buttons starting at 20 percent, and much cheaper than the prohibitive fee for its black car service, but it also means less of the tip is going to the driver.) "I don’t think the margins are going to be very substantial," for smartphone startups said Mr. Chhabra. "That said, I’m not the entrepreneur and if someone thinks there is a business model that they can make work, we want to give them that opportunity." At the same time, he said, the TLC wants to make sure that e-hailing and paying only becomes an option for people who can afford it.

NECESSARY EVIL INNOVATION?

Companies like Uber, Get Taxi, and Hailo all currently offer their service for the equivalent of yellow cabs in taxis from Chicago to Moscow, but council members suggested that startups have a stronger burden of proof that it's necessary in New York. Mr. Chhabra himself noted more than once than he didn't see the necessity of this kind of app. "New York, of course, is unique. Unlike Chicago or San Francisco, you don’t generally need a smartphone to hail a taxi. At least not in the Manhattan Central Business District, which is where yellow taxis operate for the most part. All you need is to put your hand in the air, and as if out of nowhere, a taxi appears to take you where you want to go."

“Yeah, if you can fit in the back seat,” an older woman in a wheelchair yelped from the audience.

(Photo: Facebook/Uber)

A source has informed Betabeat that Uber--the pricey, San Francisco-based request-a-ride app for black cars--plans on an imminent launch for a similar service for yellow cabs in New York City. Uber already lets riders in New York City order and pay for private sedans and SUVs from their smartphone, but this new launch would offer the service for regular taxi cabs.

The launch was scheduled for today, but appears to be held up as the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) explores "whether it complies with the TLC’s rules," said Allan Fromberg, the agency's deputy commissioner for public affairs.

Earlier today, Mr. Fromberg told Betabeat by email, "We just met with the Uber folks this afternoon and I don’t have a response for you at this moment." We have reached out to Uber and will update the post when we hear back.

UPDATE 11.15 p.m.: The New York Times reports in tomorrow's paper that Uber initially planned on launching this new service Wednesday with 105 cabs. However, the TLC said Uber's yellow cab service may not be legal for a few reasons: (1) city rules prohibit prearranged rides in yellow taxis, (2) cabbies are forbidden from using electronic devices while driving, and (3) cabbies can't refuse a fare without justification. (The latter is a concern because Uber's policy says once a driver accepts a ride through the app, he can't pick up another passenger.)

The Times also confirmed what we had previously heard: that today's meeting concerned regulatory issues surrounding Uber's ability to process credit cards to pay for yellow cab rides. The good news? In response, CEO Travis Kalanick agreed to make the yellow cab app available for free for New Yorkers for the next week.

UPDATE 6.30 p.m.: Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky offered Betabeat the following statement by email:

“Time and again, New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission has led the country in terms of putting new technology to work for riders – from credit card payments to our innovative use of GPS data to find lost belongings. If fact, we are currently requesting proposals for a smartphone payment system that will integrate with our existing technology. We are eager to see products, including apps, that allow taxi passengers to take advantage of the latest innovations, provided they are consistent with the TLC’s rules, and we will continue to work with the technology community to make sure we stay at the forefront of new developments.”

Each town car or SUV ordered through the Uber app starts at a $7 base fee and $3.90 a mile after that. In July, Uber began rolling out a "cheaper" option by adding hybrid vehicles to their fleet. But even the incrementally more affordable option still comes at a 10 to 25 percent premium on a standard taxi, as opposed to a 40 to 100 premium for its black town cars, the New York Times reported.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick (Photo: Tech Cocktail)

Uber has run into some problems with the legality of its car-booking app this year. In July, the company won a victory regarding price-fixing in Washington D.C. when the City Council passed an amendment legalizing the service. As the Verge noted, the Council has been debating legislation that "these sedans charge no less than five times the minimum cost of a taxi." At the close of the year, the Council will reconsider the bill. Massachusetts initially asked Uber to stop operating in Boston until officials could establish guidelines for the app, but quickly reversed the decision.

Perhaps prompting Uber's rush to offer yellow cab service in New York City? We also heard that Hailo, a London-based company that operates a similar service, is planning on launching here in a couple of weeks. However, Hailo does not have explicit approval from the TLC either.

Hailo, which already works for licensed taxis in London, seems to have a strong foothold in the European market. Uber, on the other hand, is popular in San Francisco where early adopter techies are willing to pay extra for a convenience of hailing a hard-to-find car. That leaves the big whale, New York City, still up for grabs.

Both Uber and Hailo applied to an RFP in March from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission for a smartphone app to let riders pay for a cab with their smartphone, although the soon-to-be released offerings are independent of the RFP. The TLC would not disclose the full list of all the companies that applied, but Get Taxi and Taxi Magic also submitted proposals.

There are some drawbacks to trying to beat a competitor to market, however. According to our source, Uber has 10 to 15 yellow cab drivers pre-registered to use its app, whereas Hailo has 2,500 pre-registered to use its app. A representative from Uber scoffed at that number. [Update: The Times later reported that Uber planned to launch with 105 cabs, or less than 1 percent of the 13,000 yellow cabs in New York City, with ambitious plans to recruit 100 new drivers a week.] Reached by phone, Hailo confirmed both its planned launch and the number of registered drivers in New York City, adding that it also had 400 drivers pre-registered in Toronto, where Uber launched last week.

Both Uber and Hailo have plenty of cash in the bank to help extend their reach. In March, Hailo raised a $17 million Series A round led by Silicon Valley's Accel Partners to take on Uber in the U.S. However, that figure is dwarfed by the $32 million Series B Uber raised last December from Menlo Ventures, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Goldman Sachs.

Over breakfast recently, an entrepreneur from London told Betabeat, "Hailo is for the 99 percent whilst Uber is for the 1 percent," explaining that while Uber can cost twice or more the cost of a yellow cab, Hailo charges users what's on the meter. The entrepreneur, who uses Uber's black car app in New York City, recounted a recent dinner in London's Camden Town neighborhood. Afterward, the diners walked to the curb and three of the four immediately whipped out the Hailo app to order a car.

Uber, however, has a head start with New Yorkers. The company courted influencers with a deal on a ride to the Hamptons this summer. Then they tried winning over locals via door-to-door ice cream delivery, with Justin Bieber blasting, of course. We're willing to entertain the notion of higher costs, if it'll save us from buying $5 Duane Reade umbrellas every time we're caught in the rain.

This is a breaking news post and we will update the story as we learn more. 

(Photo: ZabKab)

It’s 3 a.m. and you’re on a dark, deserted Manhattan street with no yellow cabs to be seen. Instead of limping on high heels to a busy avenue, drunk with fatigue (or just drunk), you can now hail a cab electronically using ZabKab.

The new app was unveiled today at the August Restaurant in Lower Manhattan, and enables consumers to hail a yellow cab using GPS technology.

At the click of a button, passengers appear on a map as an icon. The apps is free for passengers, while drivers can expect to pay between $9.95 and $14.95 per month.

“We have passengers that have become conditioned to looking for cabs,” said Martin Heikel, co-founder of Flatiron Apps LLC. “The way to giving them power in getting a cab is to give them visibility. We’re giving cabs a bird’s eye view of the area. It’s a one-way communication. We want to give them a tool for the first time to see a passenger that could be around the corner.“

The immediate problem with ZabKab is that it still needs to be approved by the Taxi & Limousine Commission--and that whole issue seems a bit dicey.

TLC's spokesman Allan Fromberg told Betabeat that he has been trying to reach ZabKab for over a week, but all in vain.

“We tried to attend the press conference today and were turned away,” he lamented.

Betabeat inquired if any other companies have launched an app before seeking approval from the TLC. “Not to my knowledge," said Mr. Fromberg.

Mr. Heikel, on the other hand, completely denied any knowledge of phone calls and emails from the TLC.

“I haven’t heard from them,” said Mr. Heikel. One reporter, raising a quizzical eyebrow, asked why ZabKab didn’t contact the TLC themselves. “We wanted the first people to hear about it to be the consumers. We didn’t want word to get out to competitors.”

On average, taxi drivers spend 25 percent of their working hours searching for clients. Over a thousand drivers have downloaded ZabKab already, even though the app was released only a few days ago. But for such an app to function well for consumers, it needs to be used by a considerable number of cabs.

“A couple of thousand [drivers] using it very quickly” would make the app effective, according to Mr. Heikel. “We’d like to see 100,000 passengers using the app.”

Matt Carrington, director of marketing and communications at Taxi Magic, the U.S. market leader in mobile taxi booking technology, shared his doubts over the need for such an app in New York City. Taxi Magic has been active since January 2009, but does not offer mobile booking in New York.

“New York City is such a highly efficient taxi market with a strong street hail culture,” Mr. Carrington told us. “Our concern in entering the market is that by the time a taxi hailed via smartphone travels 3 blocks to the user, 2-3 empty taxis will drive by. Likewise, taxi drivers are not conditioned to ignoring street hails right in front of them to pick up mobile requests several blocks away.”

As taxi driver Roland Sainristil, one of the first drivers to download ZabKab, admitted: “I am under no obligation to pick up the passenger.” We asked how far he would drive to pick up a passenger. “I would drive five or ten minutes away.”

ZabKab is more appealing to drivers than passengers. For the 80 percent of New Yorkers who live in the boroughs, this app doesn't appear to provide a solution to a very real problem. With no certainty that a cab is on its way, and given that many cabs refuse to take passengers back to Brooklyn anyway, it seems unlikely that ZabKab will be the first port of call.

Plus, it looks like ZabCab might have some explaining to do to the TLC.