And people wonder why Uber is beating the taxi industry. Al Roker is upset, but not surprised, that a New York City taxi driver snubbed him and picked up a white passenger a few feet in front of him.
On Saturday afternoon, Roker tweeted about his taxi experience and expressed how common an occurrence it is for black people to get bypassed by New York City taxis.
https://twitter.com/alroker/status/668239668337614849https://twitter.com/alroker/status/668243194182828033https://twitter.com/alroker/status/668245112892338176https://twitter.com/alroker/status/668247353330135040
Two weeks ago I experienced a similar experience with a New York City taxi driver. After trying to flag down a taxi for five minutes, I thought one was finally going to stop. Sure, he stopped, but then drove a few feet ahead of me and picked up a white couple. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. But it didn’t shock me at all, especially when the same thing has happened to me in Washington, D.C. Eventually I pulled out my Uber app, and although I’m not a fan of surge pricing, I’m also not a fan of waiting forever for a taxi.
Roker did the right thing by reporting his incident. One has to wonder what kind of explanation the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission will give him.