Hello to all and Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season and had the opportunity to spend quality time with friends and family. 2024 was quite the year and I would bet that 2025 will be just as eventful.
As we start off 2025, the biggest issue we all need to keep our eyes on is the start of congestion pricing. If you’re reading this after January 5, then congestion pricing has either started and is in effect, or it was temporarily blocked from proceeding by a Judge. Yes, it’s amazing that at the time I’m writing this, less than two weeks from the new start date, the future of this plan is still up in the air!
As you know, in mid-November, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that congestion pricing in New York City – which had been indefinitely paused since June – would begin again on January 5, 2025. Under the announced plan, passengers for all app-based for-hire vehicles (FHVs) will pay $1.50 per ride, down from the original amount of $2.50, and passengers for taxis, liveries, and traditional black car companies will pay 75 cents per ride, down from $1.25. When Hochul first began floating the idea of reviving congestion pricing with lower tolls for private vehicles, I was gravely concerned that it would lead to higher per-ride fees for our industry, in order to make up the balance. We then learned that privately owned vehicles were going to have their tolls reduced by 40%, so I strongly advocated for a 40% reduction of the per-trip fee for FHV passengers as well. I am happy to see that the reduction was applied to FHVs as well.
However, there are upwards of nine separate lawsuits that have been filed, aimed at delaying or all together stopping the implementation of congestion pricing. On December 23, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman rejected the request from a handful of groups to issue an injunction that would have stopped congestion pricing from beginning on January 5. Judge Liman listened to arguments from the Trucking Association of New York, residents of Battery Park, the United Federation of Teaches (UFT), and New Yorkers Against Congestion Pricing Tax. While no injunction was issued, these lawsuits will proceed in the courts and their ultimate result could end up affecting congestion pricing well after it starts in January.
Throughout December, we also learned that negotiations between New York and New Jersey have continued to fall through, after a Federal Judge asked the states to work on a settlement. Gov. Hochul claims that New York has made generous offers and concessions to New Jersey, including millions of dollars in infrastructure investments and additional credits for New Jersey drivers entering Manhattan. However, New Jersey has not accepted any of these offers.
At the end of the day, even if the Federal Judges in these other cases refuse to issue injunctions, the lawsuits will not go away. They will simply move into the trial stage, where they will continue to pose an existential threat to congestion pricing. One way or another, this issue is going to be something we will continue dealing with well into the new year.
Another issue I would like all of you to be aware of is that the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) will be holding a follow-up hearing on January 11 regarding proposed rules to allow interior advertising in FHVs and provide drivers with a portion of the revenue. If you recall, the first hearing that the TLC had on this topic was a fiasco.
After reviewing feedback from the initial hearing, the TLC made further changes to the proposed rules, such as allowing entities such as leasing companies to enter into business arrangements with Interior Advertising Providers, allowing for tipping to drivers to be facilitated through the tablets, and allowing for the 15% TLC-provided content requirement to be calculated based on individual passenger trips, rather than hourly. This last change will ensure that passengers receive the same experience, rather than one passenger unwittingly being forced to only consume TLC-provided content for upwards of 10 minutes.
There will likely still be varying opinions on these rules, and I would encourage everyone to watch or testify at the hearing on January 9, at 10:00am.
As we wrap up, please remember that we are now firmly in the midst of cold and flu season, not to mention COVID-19. I think it’s important to remind you that our telemedicine benefit has recently been upgraded to a full Virtual Primary Care platform. With our new partners, CirrusMD, drivers enrolled in our Drivers Benefits program will be able to speak with a doctor in less than 60 seconds, anywhere in the United States, at any time. Virtual Primary Care lets you even speak with doctors about chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Also, there is still time to be one of the first 6,000 drivers to sign up for this new, no-cost telemedicine benefit, and receive a $20 Amazon gift card, recently increased from $10!
So don’t wait… head on over to our Drivers Benefits program website (at https://ny.driversbenefits.org/) to make sure you’re enrolled in the program, as well as sign up for the new telemedicine benefit.
On a final note, in 2025, The Black Car Fund plans to have a resource fair in each quarter. Our “Steering Towards Success” resource fair series has been very popular, and we continue to expand the partners and resources that we provide to drivers at these events, as well as the giveaways and raffles! Our first resource fair of the year will be held on Mon., February 10, so please keep your eyes on your social media and emails for the official announcement and RSVP form! The first 50 drivers who RSVP will win a special BCF Goodie Bag! Looking forward to seeing you there!
Until next time!
