“Taxi-hailing apps will be useful to customers,” said TLC chairman David Yassky in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “There’s a lot we don’t know about how they will work in practice and what impact there will be on other parts of industry. I think it’s prudent to do this in a measured way, so they can see how they work before they make it permanent.”

The vote is a win for app makers such as Uber and TaxiMagic, which develop tools that let people use their smartphone to connect with nearby taxi drivers and arrange for a pickup.

Limousine and car service drivers aren’t exactly happy with the idea, though. They contend that the pilot amounts to pre-booking, which is generally how limo and car service drivers arrange to pick up their own customers. They believe the use of apps will lead to fewer fares. There has been a longstanding ban on arranging yellow taxi rides ahead of time in the city.