Uber, Lyft and the pandemic have flattened Philadelphia’s taxi industry, leaving both passengers and cab drivers waiting

PHILADELPHIA — The clock was sliding toward 2 p.m., and Ishmail Ali’s taxi was inching toward the cab stand outside 30th Street Station, currently 12th in line.

So far, he’d collected $54 in cash and $55 in credit card payments that Thursday, the meter reported. Before Uber, Ali said, he could make $450 or more in eight hours of driving.

“Those days are gone,” he said. “That money is gone.”