App-based upstarts fight for slice of taxi market.

• Author: Dano, Mike
• Position: TRANSPORTATION

FOR CLOSE TO A CENTURY, the personal, on-demand transportation market in Denver and throughout the state has been dominated by a relatively small but dedicated fleet of taxi companies and drivers. But thanks to the smartphone revolution, that might all change. Or at the very least, work a lot differently.

Currently in Denver four companies provide taxi services: Metro Taxi, Yellow Cab, Freedom Cabs and Union Taxi, which are allowed by the state to operate a combined total of roughly 1,200 taxis in the metro area. Anyone who has ever hailed a cab knows how the business works: Stand on a street corner until you find an open taxi, tell the driver where you're going and pay (plus tip) at the end of your ride. That driver licenses that taxi from a company or owns the vehicle outright, generally works 40 hours or more per week, and pays a fee to operate the vehicle.

These days a host of Silicon Valley startups are working to improve or, in some cases, dramatically overhaul the system. Generally, these companies hope to simplify the experience for riders by allowing them to digitally hail a cab to their location, set the fare before the ride starts, pay by credit card input into their phone, and rate their overall experience--all by app. And some of these companies are hoping to completely change the experience for the driver as well, allowing casual drivers to tap into an automated dispatch system and pick up riders with their own cars.

The eventual result could upend the entire market for transportation.

"It turns out people want rides," said Will McCollum, Denver general manager of one such upstart, Uber. "We bring more options to the table."

Uber, launched in 2010 in San Francisco, expanded to Denver as its 15th market in 2012, and now operates in 68 markets worldwide. Last year, Uber expanded with a cheaper service called UberX. It, and those like it, are making a significant amount of noise, because such services allow unregulated drivers to make money by providing taxi-type services using their own cars, whenever and wherever they want. Dubbed ride-sharing, the trend is precisely why incumbent taxi providers are so concerned.

"There's nothing new or innovative about this," said Brad Whittle, senior vice president of Veolia, the company that owns Yellow Cab and operates 500 vehicles in Denver. Whittle said Yellow Cab has offered riders the ability to hail a cab via app for roughly five years thanks to its partnership with Taxi Magic. In...