n the coming weeks, 160 PHL Taxi vehicles and another 225 Freedom Taxi cars will seemingly disappear from Philadelphia’s streets.

The two companies, however, are carrying on – despite the onslaught of competition Uber and Lyft bring – by combining their existing fleet with the over 700 cars operated by 215-GET-A-CAB as part of a just-announced partnership, write Alison Burdo in the Philadelpia Business Journal.

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Once competitors engaged in a healthy rivalry, PHL, Freedom and Get-a-Cab leadership had a kumbaya moment that led to a strategic venture among the three.

Around the New Year, all of the nearly 1,100 cabs will operate under the Get-A-Cab branding, part of the unified strategy among the three firms that also includes a revamped smartphone app, upgraded technology in cars and updated fleet interiors, as well as shared services for drivers.

“When you have an unfettered or unlimited fleet like Uber or Lyft, which could have 40,000 cars at any given time, how do you compete?,” Freedom owner Everett Abitbol asked during an exclusive interview with the Business Journal earlier this month. “And the way you compete is by density.”

No medallions changed hands, though regardless of owner, all 1,100 cabs will now be accessible through Get-a-Cab’s app – a crucial update that realigns local taxis’ customer-facing tech with Uber and Lyft – and by dialing any of the numbers previously associated with the three companies.

The merger of sorts came together over the past six months. Abitbol, along with members of the Sterin and Friedman families who own Get-a-Cab, sorted out details during Saturday morning coffee strolls that began with a stop at Old City’s Cafe Olé.

To read the complete story click here.

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