Taxi commission to hear livery car owners' concerns on street hails

Taxi commission to hear livery car owners’ concerns on street hails

Posted March 21, 2012 By Aidan Gardiner

Mike Lee/Flickr

At a Taxi and Limousine Commission hearing Thursday morning, livery cab owners will have the chance to voice their concerns about new licenses that will allow them to pick up passengers. High on the list of worries already aired is the possibility that their drivers will start cherry-picking passengers. Another likely grievance is the high cost of required equipment.

With the new licenses, drivers will still be able to take assignments from their base while also picking up street hails in the outer boroughs. To do that, they will have to install credit card readers, a roof light similar to taxis, and either an interior security camera or a partition between the passenger and driver.

But some in the livery industry are concerned the new equipment is too expensive and, under the new regulations, drivers will neglect those on the street or others waiting to be picked up simply because they felt they had a better fare elsewhere.

Robert Hewling of the New York City Independent Livery Owners Corporation and Darlyn Sanchez of the United As One TLC Base Owners Association blasted this provision last year in an opinion piece for Metro, a free daily newspaper.

“When dual-use was implemented in Manhattan in the ’70s, it provided cover for drivers to refuse to pick up passengers based on race, age or disability, using the excuse of having ‘just’ received a pick-up call,” they wrote. “On the flip side, drivers often picked up a street-hailer for the immediate fare, leaving the car-service customer stranded.”

Commission officials stress the regulations governing the licenses are still a work in progress and the city will do what it can to ease the transition for those drivers who want to get a street-hail license.

“People are going to have to get the equipment of taxis and follow the rules of taxis,” said David Yassky, chairman of the commission, at a meeting last week with livery drivers. “By the time we start issuing the new licenses in June, we want the livery world to understand the new rules.”

Commission officials estimated that the total cost of these additions will be nearly $3,000. They are working with nonprofit organizations like the Business Center for New Americans to craft financial tools to help vehicle owners pay for the gear.

Special privileges will be afforded to those licensees whose vehicles are wheelchair- accessible. The city will issue grants from a $54 million fund to help vehicle owners buy new wheelchair accessible vehicles or retrofit existing vehicles so that they can accommodate wheelchairs.

“One idea that’s been thrown around is $15,000 per vehicle, but that’s not final,” said Adrian Gonzalez, a Commission official. “Once these licenses start being issued, we want to have the grant process sorted, but we’re still figuring out the mechanics of that process.”

Last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg drafted legislation that would broaden taxi service to the outer boroughs in an effort to both raise funds for New York City and improve passengers’ experience.

The new rules will still prohibit borough taxis from picking up street hails in most of Manhattan and the city’s airports.

These 18,000 licenses will be sold in batches over the next three years and are expected to bring in some $1 billion for the city.

If the Commission approves rules governing the new licenses, which come for a vote in April, it will start issuing the licenses in June.

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<h1>Taxi commission to hear livery car owners’ concerns on street hails</h1><div id="attachment_4436" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/car-service.jpg');" href="http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/car-service.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4436" class="size-medium wp-image-4436" title="car service" src="http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/car-service-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/car-service-300x225.jpg 300w, thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/car-service-400x300.jpg 400w, thenewyorkworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/car-service.jpg 640w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>Mike Lee/Flickr</div>
At a Taxi and Limousine Commission hearing Thursday morning, livery cab owners will have the chance to voice their concerns about new licenses that will allow them to pick up passengers. High on the list of worries already aired is the possibility that their drivers will start cherry-picking passengers. Another likely grievance is the high cost of required equipment.
With the new licenses, drivers will still be able to take assignments from their base while also picking up street hails in the outer boroughs. To do that, they will have to install credit card readers, a roof light similar to taxis, and either an interior security camera or a partition between the passenger and driver.
But some in the livery industry are concerned the new equipment is too expensive and, under the new regulations, drivers will neglect those on the street or others waiting to be picked up simply because they felt they had a better fare elsewhere.
Robert Hewling of the New York City Independent Livery Owners Corporation and Darlyn Sanchez of the United As One TLC Base Owners Association blasted this provision last year in an opinion piece for <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.metro.us/newyork/local/article/968407--dual-use-livery-cars-won-t-work');" href="http://www.metro.us/newyork/local/article/968407--dual-use-livery-cars-won-t-work">Metro</a>, a free daily newspaper.
“When dual-use was implemented in Manhattan in the ’70s, it provided cover for drivers to refuse to pick up passengers based on race, age or disability, using the excuse of having ‘just’ received a pick-up call,” they wrote. “On the flip side, drivers often picked up a street-hailer for the immediate fare, leaving the car-service customer stranded.”
Commission officials stress the regulations governing the licenses are still a work in progress and the city will do what it can to ease the transition for those drivers who want to get a street-hail license.
“People are going to have to get the equipment of taxis and follow the rules of taxis,” said David Yassky, chairman of the commission, at a meeting last week with livery drivers. “By the time we start issuing the new licenses in June, we want the livery world to understand the new rules.”
Commission officials estimated that the total cost of these additions will be nearly $3,000. They are working with nonprofit organizations like the Business Center for New Americans to craft financial tools to help vehicle owners pay for the gear.
Special privileges will be afforded to those licensees whose vehicles are wheelchair- accessible. The city will issue grants from a $54 million fund to help vehicle owners buy new wheelchair accessible vehicles or retrofit existing vehicles so that they can accommodate wheelchairs.
“One idea that’s been thrown around is $15,000 per vehicle, but that’s not final,” said Adrian Gonzalez, a Commission official. “Once these licenses start being issued, we want to have the grant process sorted, but we’re still figuring out the mechanics of that process.”
Last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Michael Bloomberg drafted legislation that would broaden taxi service to the outer boroughs in an effort to both raise funds for New York City and improve passengers’ experience.
The new rules will still prohibit borough taxis from picking up street hails in most of Manhattan and the city’s airports.
These 18,000 licenses will be sold in batches over the next three years and are expected to bring in some $1 billion for the city.
If the Commission approves rules governing the new licenses, which come for a vote in April, it will start issuing the licenses in June.

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