Taxicab driver and vehicle permits have fallen sharply this year compared with 2014 – a sign, traditional taxicab operators say, of how Uber, Lyft and other smartphone-based ride services are crimping their business.

The number of registered taxicab drivers dropped nearly 18 percent in March, to 1,315, compared to 1,595 during the same month of 2014, according to the Orange County Taxi Administration Program. Taxicab permits were down 14 percent in the same period, after increasing year over year since 2008.

“It’s the ride-hailing effect,” said Tim Conlon, president of Santa Ana-based California Yellow Cab, who said weekend calls for service have dropped 35 to 40 percent recently.

Ride-hailing’s swipe-and-go services have quickly grown into a popular alternative to the traditional taxi in Orange County and across the country. The rides can be summoned and paid for with a smartphone app.

The services won approval earlier this year to pick up passengers at John Wayne Airport, one of the first large Southern California airports to permit them. City leaders in Los Angeles are trying to clear the way for service at LAX.

Cab drivers say the services hurt their bottom line. Abdul Anwari, a taxi driver working at John Wayne Airport on Wednesday, said he’d typically fetch around 15 passengers daily at the airport. Now his business is down by half.

“It has changed a lot,” said Anwari, 47, a cabbie for 15 years. “It’s a problem.”

The traditional cab industry contends that ride-share drivers face few barriers to entry and scant regulations.

Conlon said taxi businesses are subject to state and local regulations and various fees, including an annual $401 county per-vehicle licensing fee. He added that drivers must submit to random drug tests, spend about $200 annually for county driver permits and testing, and have their driving records monitored by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Uber, in contrast, requires an application, car inspection and background check, which the company pays for, an Uber spokeswoman said. Drivers must pay for their own vehicles, gas and upkeep. John Wayne Airport requires Uber and other ride-share companies that operate there to pay a $2.25 per ride pick-up fee.

“There has to be some leveling of the playing field,” Conlon said “Quite frankly, it’s not even close.”

Uber spokeswoman Taylor Patterson declined to comment on the drop in taxicab permits. She said the company is geared toward providing customers with choices, and the service is only one part of a larger “transportation ecosystem.”

Conlon said corporate and government contracts, which account for up to 60 percent of his business, have partially insulated the company from weekend declines. But small mom-and-pop cab companies, he said, will suffer as on-demand ride companies gain traction.

“If a guy’s whole business model is to sit on Main Street in Huntington Beach on Friday and Saturday nights, he is taking a big hit,” Conlon said. “That is rideshare’s demographic.”

Anwari, with California Yellow Cab, said he sees former cabbies at John Wayne Airport now driving for Uber, Lyft or Wingz, the three services with operating permits.

A survey of 601 Uber drivers released early this year by the market research firm Benenson Strategy Group reported that 14 percent of Uber drivers formerly drove taxis and 20 percent drove limos, black cars or another for-hire service.

Anwari said he said he doesn’t begrudge them on the switch.

“I’m not going to say anything,” Anwari said. “You have to support your family.”

Contact the writer: nshine@ocregister.com On Twitter: @nicolekshine