New York City for-hire vehicle (FHV) and taxi drivers face a long list of challenges, but perhaps the most fundamental ones they see on a daily basis are finding a decent bathroom and a place to park while they wait for their next ride. Although City Council enacted legislation in 2021 granting delivery app workers access to restaurant bathrooms, Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) drivers often continue to struggle to find a clean, accessible place to relieve themselves during long shifts.
While the city provides “relief stands,” most of the locations are restricted for use by yellow and green taxi drivers. Of the 109 relief stands in NYC, only 42 are also accessible to the more than 80,000 drivers that provide work for app-hail companies and traditional black car and livery bases. Drivers have also reported that many of those relief stand spots are used by city vehicles illegally.
Efforts by industry advocates like the Independent Drivers Guild (IDG) helped get portable toilets installed for drivers at JFK Airport, noted IDG spokesperson Moira Muntz. The IDG also helped secure temporary running water bathrooms at LaGuardia and Newark airports. Despite those efforts, significant problems remain, according to Aziz Bah, the IDG’s organizing director, who has called for the construction of additional relief stands as part of the conversion of the city’s app-hail fleet to electric vehicles (EVs). The new facilities would provide drivers with bathroom access and charging stations.
Drivers “already face issues with places to park and take a break with bathrooms and running water without getting a ticket,” Bah said. “Now, add a lack of charging in areas that are needed, and this just compounds the difficulties that drivers will face on a daily basis.”
Earlier this year, taxi medallion owner Marblegate Asset Management created a “Taxi Clubhouse” on West 26th Street, providing TLC-regulated drivers with a safe, clean, 3,000-square-foot facility to grab a cup of coffee (or snack), unwind in front of a large screen TV, pray, exercise, and/or relieve themselves.
“The ability to use the restroom is a basic human right,” said James Parziale, a TLC spokesman. “We encourage more access for our drivers and appreciate ventures like the Taxi Clubhouse, which can offer TLC drivers a dignified and designated place to rest, recharge, and take a break.”
Drivers say the city is asking a lot with its mandate that all app-hail vehicles transition to EVs by 2030, and it’s only fair that a whole lot more is done to provide dramatically improved restroom and parking access.
Source: The Good Men Project
