Denver Taxi Drivers Are Turning Uber’s Disruption on Its Head

Summary

In the bitter feud between tech firms and the taxi industry, drivers fight back with a killer app of their own: cooperative ownership.

The largest taxi company in the Denver metro area is still mostly secret. On Sunday morning, the parking lot behind the Communication Workers of America Local 7777 office filled up with cars. Some already had the black or green paint of Green Taxi Cooperative, its name inscribed in Wild West-style type. But many were still unmarked, or bore the branding of one of Denver’s other cab companies, for whom drivers were working even after putting down the $2,000 investment to become a member-owner of Green Taxi. Some were still doing Uber. All 800 slots for Green Taxi members are full, and there’s demand for more. But nearly 150 drivers are out on the road so far. The rest are waiting, keeping their status as business owners quiet, biding their time to see if this will really work.