COMMISSIONER'S LETTER

By New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairwoman & Chief Executive Officer Meera Joshi

Greetings, friends. I hope you are enjoying this lovely spring.

I want to begin this column by updating you on the TLC's work as a partner in Vision Zero, the city's plan to end traffic deaths and injuries. We have a significant role to play in making our streets safer. The TLC regulates over 150,000 professional drivers who move over a million passengers a day in more than 90,000 cars.

No crash on a city street is inevitable, and no death should be tolerated We are working to profoundly change the culture in how traffic crashes are addressed - both within our agency and the larger transportation ecosystem we regulate.

In March, I had the privilege to speak at a Transportation Alternatives' conference on Vision Zero, and highlighted the many different actions we have taken since the plan started in 2014. To reach Vision Zero, we have focused on education, safety driven enforcement, new technology, and celebrating drivers who have outstanding safety records. We are also creating synergy - something greater than individual efforts alone - by working closely with sister agencies like the NYPD, DOT, and the MTA.

Before Vision Zero, our inspectors did limited traffic safety work primarily relying on the NYPD. Now our enforcement work is more directly focused on making sure drivers, their passengers, and all those with whom they share the road, get home safely to their families.

Focusing enforcement on reckless behaviors by drivers that are bad apples in an industry of professionals helps saves lives. It also can change the perception of the for-hire transportation industry by the media and the public that paints for-hire drivers with a broad brush because of the actions of a few.

We are also giving drivers the tools they need to be good stewards of the streets. For-hire vehicle drivers are now also joining their taxi industry colleagues in the classroom, and achieving the same level of education. As part of a required 24-hour course offered in four languages, they study safe driving techniques. Drivers also view "Drive Like Your Family Lives Here," a poignant film about families who lost loved ones to reckless driving. It was produced by the TLC with the advocacy group Families for Safe Streets.

I had the chance to visit the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism as well last month, and spoke with a large group of journalists from community and ethnic media publications. The diverse audience created a forum for a wide range of questions - such as regulation and competition, data, technology, safety, and education. I spoke about how my dream as a regulator is that passengers will have different choices for getting from point A to point B, an environment with medallion taxis, Boro Taxis, for-hire vehicles, and many different apps that passengers can enjoy using securely.

Last month, the TLC also lifted its restrictions on rules for driver owned medallions, after hearing from owner-drivers and the groups that represent them that the penalties were both outdated and onerous. The owner must drive rule was created for a very different time in the industry, and it's important that the agency's rules be living documents that can adapt to practical realities.

I look forward to talking with you again next month. In the meantime, stay safe and drive like your family lives here!