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By New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairwoman & Cheif Executive Officer Meera Joshi
For those catching up late on this, Lyft, which provides a form of for-hire service using non-professionally licensed drivers in their personal vehicles dispatched via smartphone app, wanted to expand to New York City. This expansion would have been contrary to the rules and laws which govern for-hire transportation here. Lyft is in operation in roughly 60 other US cities. While New York City has a well founded reputation as a pioneer in welcoming new technology to improve the passenger experience, progress must never come at the expense of passenger safety and consumer protections, and fairness to the legitimate licensed industries we regulate. Faced with the reality that TLC enforcement would take their unlicensed vehicles off the road as quickly as they’d dispatch them, Lyft agreed to amend their operating plan so that it would use licensed drivers and vehicles dispatched by a licensed base. Regardless of this, the TLC, joined by the Attorney General’s office and the NYS Department of Financial Services, have sought a Temporary Restraining Order restraining Lyft from conducting business in New York and, as of today, we have appeared before the State Supreme Court three times. Most recently, the presiding judge ordered that Lyft not launch any service before they can demonstrate their compliance with the laws and rules of New York City. A TLC license represents a promise to understand and abide by the rules that separate the professional from the pretender. If you’ve done the work and put in the time and effort to do things right, to be properly licensed, you should know – the TLC takes your promise seriously. We will not allow anyone any shortcuts that would enable them to acquire illegally what you have earned the hard way.
Since last we spoke, the TLC has submitted its Disability Accessibility Plan (DAP) to the State Department of Transportation on behalf of Governor Cuomo. This plan is required by the law that created the framework for the Street Hail Livery program and authorized the sale of additional wheelchair accessible taxi medallions. The state has 90 days from the date the DAP application was filed to review the DAP which takes us to late August. If approved, the DAP lets us move forward with what we all agree will be the appropriate percentage of accessible Street Hail Liveries (SHLs) - 50% - to complement the 50% by 2020 accessibility target we’ve set in the medallion taxicab industry.
I would like to take a moment to thank the very gracious people at Grand Limo & Car Service which happens to be the city’s largest operator of Street Hail Liveries, SHLs, or green cabs. I visited the base recently to discuss the latest happenings in the world of SHLs, most notably that the next issuance of SHL permits will begin in late August as promised. I received the warmest response possible. I always feel at home when I’m talking to drivers!
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