NEW YORK (AP) New York City's experiment with taxi-hailing smartphone apps got a green light Tuesday from an appeals court.
The state Supreme Court's Appellate Division said the city can continue a yearlong test of "e-hail" services, which would allow riders to summon the city's signature yellow taxis with their smartphones instead of raised arms.
Traditionally, New York City's roughly 13,000 yellow cabs have been prohibited from taking pre-arranged rides. But the taxi commission approved the e-hail experiment in December, saying that the city shouldn't turn its back on new taxi technology.
Car service owners sued, saying the project unfairly blurs a legal line between yellow and livery cabs, which are barred from picking up passengers on streets and so depend on prearranged rides. The lawsuit also contended that the project was too broad to qualify as a test.
But the court said the test "was properly adopted" and allowable under city laws.