Sioux Falls Yellow Cab Company Shuts Its Doors After 70 Years

Life for taxi companies has been difficult in the age of Uber and Lyft. Just ask taxi companies across the country. That fact is just one of the reasons the owner of Yellow Cab in Sioux Falls is calling it a day and shuttering their business.

According to Dakota News Now, Yellow Cab's Tallie West is a fourth-generation owner. She has worked at the company for 34 years and didn't make the decision easily. West said the hardest part of shuttering a business that has been in business for over 70 years was breaking the news to her employees.

West indicated the arrival of Uber and Lyft in Sioux Falls created a major impact on their business. Citing the qualification requirements for taxi drivers far exceeding those for Uber and Lyft drivers.

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That situation doesn't even take into account the global pandemic which shut down over 200,000 U.S. businesses permanently. This put cab drivers in the line of COVID-19 fire on a daily basis.

Sioux Falls Yellow Cab owner Tallie West also expressed the thought that if she could attract more business, finding the staff to do the driving would be nearly impossible.

Seventy years serving a community is a truly significant achievement. West said this was going to be a "life-changing" event", and that she "hasn't had to apply for a job in 30 years", so her life would be very different from this point on.

Her final thoughts were for her employees.

“The drivers that I have now all put themselves out there every day. They worked long hours put themselves at risk with COVID and I commend them for that and I’d like that to be recognized”- -Tallie West via Dakota News Now

Sources: Dakota News Now, The Wall Street Journal, and The Heritage Foundation