Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

for-hire vehicles

for-hire vehicles

  • Time to Create a Fast Lane for Zero-Emission Vehicles in New York; Here's How

    Electric vehicle charging (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    In late January, Mayor Adams announced a bold and exciting goal to require New York City’s for-hire vehicle fleet to reach zero emissions by 2030. This was a welcome step forward, considering the goal is shared by major for-hire platforms, including Uber, as well as the City Department of Transportation, who recognize the climate crisis is an existential threat to

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  • Examining Midtown Traffic, Former NYC Transportation Commissioner Calls for New For-Hire Vehicle Regulations

    Midtown streets (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    As the MTA and partners prepare to implement congestion pricing in New York City to raise needed funds for transit infrastructure and reduce traffic, a former New York City transportation commissioner proposes that the state and city should primarily target for-hire vehicles that he assesses as the true culprits behind Midtown’s congestion woes.

    In a recent study, Lucius Riccio, adjunct professor of statistics, analytics, and operations at NYU's Stern School of

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  • New York City’s Largest Group of Drivers is Being Left Out of the Electric Vehicle Conversation

    Gov. Hochul drives an electric vehicle (photo: Governor's Office)


    A recently-launched pilot offers Uber, Lyft, and other for-hire-vehicle drivers the opportunity to trade their gas-powered vehicle in for an electric Tesla. An experienced, high-earning Uber driver, Angelis, jumped at the opportunity – but within a week returned the Tesla for a traditional black SUV. He loved driving the car and said his customers raved about it. But as a resident of the Bronx, it was not feasible for him to keep it — going electric meant he had to drive 35 minutes twice a day to a charging station and wait there for

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  • Cruising is a City Problem Bigger Than For-Hire Vehicles, Deserving a Complete Policy Response

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    Traffic, mobility, for-hire vehicles & others need a solution (photo: NYC DOT)


    Earlier this month, news broke that the New York City Council is considering new regulations on transportation network company (TNC) vehicles cruising city streets in search of passengers, with hopes that the move would ease Manhattan congestion. The measure would mirror the city’s recently-passed congestion fee,

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  • City Officials Debate What To Do About Taxi Medallion Debt Crisis

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    Council Members Levine & Rivera & drivers rally at City Hall (photo: Jeff Reed)


    City Council Speaker Corey Johnson asked what sounded like a simple question: should the Taxi & Limousine Commission apologize for its role in the taxi medallion debt crisis, in which thousands of taxi owner-drivers have been trapped in predatory loans unchecked by city and state watchdogs?

    Jeffrey Roth, nominated by Mayor Bill de Blasio to lead the TLC, failed to give a direct “yes” or “no.” Johnson asked

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  • Former City Taxi Commissioner on Regulating the App Companies and Saving the Yellows

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    Meera Joshi, right, at a rally (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayor's Office)


    Meera Joshi’s five-year tenure as the head of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission coincided with a tumultuous time for the industry she was tasked with overseeing and regulating. Joshi, who left the de Blasio administration in March, joined the What’s The [Data] Point? podcast from Citizens Budget Commission and Gotham Gazette to

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  • What's the [Data] Point? 125,323, with Former Taxi Commissioner Meera Joshi

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    What's The [Data] Point? Episode 73 -- 125,323, Meera Joshi, former chair of the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

    wtdp meera joshiMeera Joshi was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014 to chair the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission, which sets rules for and has oversight over the city's taxi

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  • City Council Strips Diaz Sr. of Committee After Latest Homophobic Remarks

    ruben diaz sr comm vehicles

    (Photo: John McCarten/NYC Council)


    In a rare move on Wednesday, the New York City Council voted to dissolve a standing committee after its chair, Council Member Ruben Diaz Sr., made homophobic remarks in a recent radio interview and repeatedly refused to apologize for them in the days after.

    Diaz Sr., a Pentecostal minister with a long history of anti-LGBT positions and actions, said last week in the radio interview that the City Council is “controlled by the homosexual community," ...

  • New York City Shouldn’t Regulate Ride-Hailing Apps - It Should Compete With Them

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    (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    Smartphones are transforming transit in cities all over the world, and city governments are struggling to figure out how to best manage the change. If the world was looking to New York City’s recently enacted legislation affecting for-hire vehicle companies, then there will be disappointment given that, once again, the city’s political establishment decided to impose an outdated regulatory regime on innovative firms,

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  • For-Hire Companies Must Make Rides Accessible to All

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    (photo via Uber)


    They may claim to be “doing the right thing” in their splashy campaigns, but for-hire-vehicle companies like Uber and Lyft are in New York courts right now fighting fairness -- when it comes to serving the city’s 99,000 wheelchair users.

    Whether you need to get to a job interview, a doctor’s appointment, or a dinner with friends, finding reliable and affordable transportation is a daily struggle if you use a wheelchair in New York City. The subway system -- with its tiny number of functioning elevators -- remains almost wholly inaccessible. Buses creep

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