You can’t find a cab. Uber prices are soaring. Here’s why

The taxi line at La Guardia Airport had barely budged.

There were no cabs in sight, and the grumbling was getting louder. People scanned the road for any glimpse of yellow. A dispatcher grimaced.

Finally, a lone taxi rolled up for a waiting passenger. Then it was gone.

“I haven’t seen it like this,” said Alex Hyken, 28, who lives in Brooklyn and had just returned from visiting relatives in St. Louis, only to find herself stuck behind 40 people who were also trying to get a taxi. Ten minutes later, she whirled off with her suitcase in search of an Uber or Lyft.