Cab drivers protest ride-share services in Loop during morning rush

CHICAGO -- Cab drivers are staging a passenger boycott during the morning rush to protest ride-share services in Chicago.

The United Taxidrivers Community Council is calling Tuesday "A Day of Action," to draw attention to the threat ride-share services, like Uber, pose to the traditional cab business.

Taxis will drive around the Loop from 6-10 a.m. Tuesday, but won't pick up any passengers. They also plan to rally in front of City Hall.

Cab drivers claim there are 13,000 Uber drivers in Chicago who take as many as 2 million rides a month from the conventional taxi industry.

Another cab drivers union is planning a similar protest, scheduled to begin around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. The union claims the ride-share industry lacks the same regulation and oversight that taxi drivers are subject to, and it's putting riders at risk.

The union cites two recent incidents where Uber drivers were accused of sexually assaulting passengers. One of the drivers accused of assaulting a passenger used his wife's Uber profile to pick up the woman who says she was attacked.

Uber said its drivers are screened for criminal backgrounds.

Groups representing cab drivers claim as many as 3,000 of them have left the industry, searching for another form of employment. They said the falling number of conventional cab rides endangers the livelihood of small fleet owners and independent owner-operators.