Uber and Lyft could be getting some new competition from the cities of New York and Chicago.
New York and Chicago could soon be launching their own smartphone apps for e-hailing taxis, similar to Uber and Lyft.
New York City Councilman Ben Kallos proposed a bill to create apps for e-hailing taxis.
"City taxis need an app of their own to compete, and New Yorkers need to be able to get a cab in the rain without having to worry about surge pricing," said Kallos, in a press release. "I want to live in a city where I can e-hail a yellow or green cab and get where I need to be in a New York minute."
The app would be called Universal E-Hail App and would be created by the Taxi & Limousine Commission.
Chicago regulators also approved a plan to create a similar app, reported the New York Times on Friday.
The apps would follow the templates set by Uber and Lyft, car service companies that allow customers to hail cabs via apps, instead of standing and shouting on street corners while jostling with other customers.
Related: California sues Uber and Lyft
But the competing car service companies have run afoul of local laws around the United States, and Uber has been banned from Spain and India.
Uber's home state of California has sued both Uber and Lyft for allegedly misleading people about its driver background checks. Lyft has agreed to pay at least $250,000 in fines and to make its checks more rigorous to weed out drivers with criminal records. Uber is contesting the lawsuit.
Authorities in Portland, Ore., have also sued Uber, demanding that it comply with local laws.
