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The city of Chicago is designating two firms to offer ride-hailing apps in the city's taxi fleet, a move meant to boost a cab industry besieged by competition from services such as Uber and Lyft.

By Feb. 1, all of the city's 12, 700 licensed taxi drivers will be required to use either a smartphone hailing app offered by a New York company called Arro, or one called Curb, a product of San Jose, Calif.-based Verifone, the city said.

The city launched a bidding process in May 2015 to find firms interested in offering a so-called “universal” hailing app for smartphones that would allow cabbies and riders to find each other, similar to the way ride-booking companies put drivers and customers together.

Drivers and taxi-medallion owners have been long been anticipating the rollout of an app here, hoping it will help them compete against ride-booking firms that have gobbled up market share and can now pick up passengers from the city's airports with all of their service lines.

Felix Shtayner, head of public vehicle operations for Chicago Medallion Management, which owns medallions and manages them for other owners, hopes the apps will help the taxi industry.

“One of the biggest obstacles, it seems, that are holding back cabs is the execution of the technology, ” he said.

WILL IT HELP CABS COMPETE?

David Kreisman, a spokesman for Cab Drivers United/AFSCME Local 2500, said in a statement that universal-taxi apps are “a tool badly needed by cab drivers” who've lost income because of Uber. He called on the city to market the apps to consumers.

“(Any) assertion that an app alone will level the playing field with Uber is ridiculous, ” as Uber has fewer regulations to deal with than traditional cab companies, according to Kreisman.

Maria Guerra Lapacek, commissioner of Chicago's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said in a statement that by “mandating that taxi drivers participate, Chicago residents will have additional transportation options and will more easily connect with a nearby taxi through the use of their smartphones, resulting in more fares for taxi drivers.”

Arro and Verifone were chosen because their apps offer features such as a secure payment option, estimated wait times and fare quotes, the city said.

Curb is already connected, through Verifone's credit card equipment, to around 4, 000 cabs in the city, according to the company.