How much can New York's ride-sharing services grow?

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Hailing a ride in New York has never been easier. Uber, Lyft, Via, Juno, Gett are just the app-based services you've heard of. Chariot, a ride-sharing van service from Ford, is one of the newest additions to the New York City market. And Curb, which now coordinates car pools in yellow taxis through a partnership with Via, is here, too.

"We started with about 500 drivers only between 32nd [Street] and upper Manhattan," said Jason Gross, VP and head of mobile at Verifone, Curb's parent company. " We've now expanded it to over 2,000 drivers recently and we're covering all over Manhattan."

He said curb's ride-sharing option is about to expand from Manhattan to parts of Queens and Brooklyn.

"We think there's a lot of demand, especially out in the boroughs, for these shared rides because you can save up to 40 percent off a taxi fare," Gross said.

The city's Taxi and Limousine Commission is responsible for licensing and regulating the taxi and for-hire ride industry, which has grown exponentially in recent years, Commissioner Meera Joshi said.

"We now have almost 160,000 licensed drivers and over 110,000 vehicles," Joshi said. "If you look back five years ago, you'd be looking at about 80,000 drivers and probably about 60 to 70,000 vehicles -- so that's a tremendous spike."

Joshi said all the new competition drives customer service, but she also acknowledged that congestion is a problem.

"A lot more cars on the street -- that makes it difficult for public transportation, that makes it difficult for emergency vehicles, that makes it difficult for people to just get around the city," Joshi said. "And that unchecked will only get worse."

The commissioner is also concerned that more drivers are on the roads, the slimmer their earnings will be.

"Many drivers have complained to us that they're earning far less this year than they did last year," Joshi said.

In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio attempted to cap the number of for-hire vehicles on city streets, but backed away from it after strong opposition. So for now, expect your ride-hailing options to grow but just know that with so many cars on the road, it could take you a little longer to get where you want to go.