“New York State received federal backing for 60,000 new highway chargers, as well as an expanded supercharger network in Manhattan or near the city’s airports. This approach is geared towards leisure and commuting drivers… but this effort is inadvertently ignoring the most critical subset of drivers who can have the largest impact on our city’s environmental footprint: for-hire-vehicle (FHV) drivers. Among other benefits, FHVs supplement public transportation systems in the outer boroughs where buses and trains run less frequently or not at all. The last thing New York City needs is more vehicles on the road – encouraging leisure or personal-use electric vehicles and charging support alone will only increase congestion. We cannot expect these hard-working New Yorkers to trade in their current vehicles – their most important revenue-generating asset – for EVs that will require inconvenient and expensive charging. They cannot waste time that could be used to make money to drive across the boroughs or along the highway to wait in long lines for a full charge.”
– Sam Jurkowicz
Source: Gotham Gazette
