A new legal victory for ride-sharing service Uber is being viewed as a major setback for some of Connecticut's cab companies. Those companies are already preparing for their next legal battle.
When Manuela Nascimento picked her family up from New Haven's Union Station, she chose to call a cab.
“Today I took the cab because I have a lot of people with a lot of suitcases to carry," she said.
Typically, though, she uses another method to get around.
“Usually I use Uber because it’s easier," said Nascimento. "I can go to my cell phone and I don’t need cash and I think it’s a little bit cheaper.”
An increasing number of people in Connecticut are using the Uber smartphone app to summon a driver instead of calling for a traditional taxi. Fifteen cab companies recently filed a lawsuit to stop the ride-sharing company from doing business in the state. This week, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs failed to show that Uber competed unfairly.
Cab companies say their fight is not over. Among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit was Buddy Boskello, owners of Greenwich Taxi, Inc.
“The plan now is that we are going to re-file the case," said Boskello, who wants Uber to have to follow all the same state laws and regulations that taxi companies do. “I want the regulations to apply to them where it limits the number of cars per town."
In a statement, Uber officials saed the lawsuit dismissal is a good thing for riders and drivers across the state.
“In the long run, it’s going to hurt the people and the business," said Boskello.
