A lawsuit, filed on May 15, accuses New York City’s Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) of doing an “end run” around state and city laws, as the TLC attempts to re-issue up to 2,500 “unused” Street Hail Livery (SHL) permits. In court papers, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) charges the TLC’s proposal to create a new type of for-hire vehicle (FHV) license – for rides that cannot be hailed on the street – is “in direct conflict with state law, which defines SHLs by their essential characteristic: their ability to be hailed on the street like a taxi.”
The TLC wants to issue up to 2,500 out-of-use “green taxi” licenses, removing vehicle-color requirements (they can be any color, except green or yellow), metered trips, vehicle markings and rooftop lights. Rides would have to be booked via a livery base, rather than hailed on the street.
The TLC approved the two-year pilot program on May 3, at a contentious meeting where drivers chanted “Stop the vote!” and complained that hundreds of new cars on city roads would further dilute driver income as the industry continues to recover from the pandemic. The NYTWA contends the city provided only four days’ notice before approving the pilot, and alleges it bypasses a 2018 cap on new FHV licenses.
TLC Chair David Do called the new program “promising,” touting the reduction in upfront and operating costs associated with the “green taxi” program. Green paint jobs, in-vehicle cameras and partitions would not be required in the new SHLs. Inspection requirements would also be reduced to every other year.
“There are already 20,000 fewer TLC vehicles on the road than before the pandemic, and the SHL Pilot Program is based on direct input from the industry,” said TLC spokesperson, Jason Kersten. “We are optimistic that this will increase outer borough service and serve those who are traditionally not served by yellow taxis – especially those who need the non-emergency medical transportation that these licenses will also provide.”
Cira Angeles, spokesperson for the Livery Base Owners Association, called the pilot program a potential boon for long-struggling outer-borough car services.
“We have a crisis in our communities that are outside of the central business district and it’s very real,” Angeles told THE CITY. “This study will determine the real needs in our immigrant communities and communities of color.”
TLC data shows that the number of active green taxis – which offer metered trips and can be hailed on city streets outside the “exclusionary zone” – fell to 891 in February. That’s down nearly 18% from 12 months earlier, and an 86% drop-off from a peak of 6,539 in June 2015. The drop-off has been blamed on app-based services like Uber and Lyft entering the market and COVID.
Source: The City
