After pivoting to save the company after Uber charged into the market in 2014, only 5% of T-Plus' service now is traditional taxi or rideshare work. That's down from 50%. It operates Airport Taxi, T-Ride, Plus Mobility and the former Yellow Taxi.

Pint said his company would only ramp up taxi services again if Uber and Lyft fully exit the market. With Walz and others pressuring Minneapolis to reconsider the minimum wage terms in the law that goes into effect May 1, he doesn't quite believe the mega rideshare companies will actually be leaving the city.

"We have already been burned once," he said. "We are not going to get burned again."

Plus, Pint said contract customers have contacted him worried about their services. He's adamant that he won't sacrifice the new business model to pivot again.

Waleed Sonbol, who runs the 250-car, St. Louis Park-based Blue & White Taxi, and also owns Red & White Taxi and Rainbow Taxi, is frequently asked to help local Uber and Lyft drivers in this uncertain frontier.

It's a community he knows well. Many affected drivers attend the same mosque, he said: "We talk a lot."

Sonbol held a conference call Friday with more than a dozen Uber and Lyft drivers.

"They asked if they could come over and join here," said Sonbol, whose 313 independent drivers are under contract to provide about 4,000 rides a day to patients, blind residents and students needing transit. "I said, 'Let us wait and see what happens.'"

If May 1 comes and Uber and Lyft actually exit, Sonbol said, "Then we will get you guys on board our app within a day or two. We will get you up and running. We are preparing ourselves for it."

But he will start slow, with just 25 of the drivers. Right now, only 10% of his business is traditional taxi work.

If new drivers are added, Sonbol said he would charge them a flat fee of up to $100 a week to join his "RideSure" app and let them keep 95% of all fares. They would not get involved in the contract work done for insurers, health providers, the Department of Human Services and charter schools.

Sonbol is prepared to pivot back to traditional taxi work if the market opens for it. "We are ready," he said. "Our noncontract work could grow tremendously."

Taha said if the Uber/Lyft exits happen, he will reapply for a license for Blue Taxi in mid-May. Like the other companies, his existing business provides rides for medical appointments under a contract with the state.

Meanwhile, smaller rideshare players across the country other than Empower are also making inquiries. Mohamed Egal, a nine-year Uber driver who heads a local group called Mulda Members, said drivers are talking to recruiters from app-based firms such as Miami-based Revo Rideshare, and Texas-based Wridz and Hitch. "They just want to know if there is enough demand here," he said.

If one of these companies came to town, he said he would sign up. "We have been working very hard to get to this point where our voices are finally heard," he said. "We pay taxes, and we deserve fair pay."

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