NEWS

TLC COMPLETES AUCTION OF 63 INDEPENDENT ACCESSIBLE NEW YORK CITY TAXICAB MEDALLIONS

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) successfully auctioned 63 new taxicab medallions earmarked for use with wheelchair accessible vehicles. This will bring to 144 the number of New York City taxicabs capable of offering ramp entry service to wheelchair users.

The medallions made available today represent a portion of the 150
additional medallions that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, TLC Commissioner Matthew W. Daus and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn successfully sought State legislation to authorize.

“We are both pleased and gratified by the interest from prospective bidders that has been generated by the availability of these 63 medallions,” said TLC Commissioner Daus. “We have made tremendous progress in the area of accessible service in the last several years, and these additional accessible medallions represent both the furtherance of that progress and the benefits of ownership for successful bidders.”

The process involved the public opening of sealed bids that were submitted to the TLC between Friday, October 26, and Wednesday, October 31, 2007. The amount of each bid was read aloud and processed by a team of specially-trained TLC staff. A large screen flashed the ranking of the bids, allowing bidders to monitor their progress and ultimately determine whether their bids were successful. The opening took place at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, neighbors of the TLC’s 40 Rector Street headquarters, on the sixth floor.

Winning bidders were invited to attend a bid winner’s workshop at TLC headquarters in late November to become familiarized with the processes and procedures that will assist them in getting started.

PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS ARE TENTATIVE AND UNOFFICIAL, PENDING CONFIRMATION AND PROCESSING

TENTATIVE RESULTS
MEDALLION AUCTION FAST FACTS – Independent Accessible

The remaining group of 87 (Corporate Accessible and a small number of Independent Alternate Fuel) medallions will be sold at a separate auction in the spring of 2008.

A comprehensive list of tentative winning bidders will be made available on the TLC’s web site www.nyc.gov/taxi.

TLC APPROVES ACCESSIBLE DISPATCH SYSTEM PILOT PROGRAM

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) voted to approve a two year experimental program that would provide wheelchair accessible service via medallion taxicabs and meter-equipped for-hire vehicles (FHVs).

Technically a demonstration project strictly for persons who use wheelchairs, requests for accessible service would be made through 311, the City’s government services hotline, and a dispatch contractor would take the necessary information and then find the closest available participating accessible taxicab or FHV. Participating drivers will receive all necessary training, and will fully assist passengers using wheelchairs in securing them in the vehicle.

The cost for wheelchair accessible rides provided under the program will be based on a standard metered fare, and all dispatch equipment will be provided to participating vehicles at no cost to their owners.

“This program is a cause for celebration,” said TLC Commissioner and Chairman Matthew W. Daus. “The TLC has worked hard with its partners to create the framework of a new service to persons with disabilities that never before existed, while answering important questions about demand and about realistic response times, among other things.

“We could never have done this without close collaboration with the Mayor’s Office for Persons with Disabilities, the Mayor’s Office of Operations, and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and in consultation with many knowledgeable disability advocates.”

This program builds on a number of achievements already realized by
the Bloomberg Administration in the area of accessible transportation,
including the recent sale of 63 of 150 accessible taxicab medallions authorized by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The remaining accessible medallions will be auctioned in the spring of 2008, bringing the number
of roll-in wheelchair accessible taxicabs in New York City to 230, more than any other city in the nation.

It is anticipated that the system will be ready to provide wheelchair accessible service as of January 1, 2008.

PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED TO DISCUSS ALTERING AND CLARIFYING
THE PROCEDURES BY WHICH TAXI MEDALLIONS ARE TRANSFERRED

Notice is hereby given in accordance with section 1043(b) of the Charter of the City of New York (“Charter”) that the Taxi and Limousine Commission (“TLC”) proposes rules altering and clarifying the procedures by which taxicab medallions are transferred.

These rules are proposed pursuant to section 1043 of the Charter and
section 19-512 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York. The
proposed rules are included in the TLC’s regulatory agenda for Fiscal Year 2007.

A public hearing on these proposed rules will be held by the TLC at its offices at 40 Rector Street, 5th Floor, New York, New York 10006 on December 13, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. Persons wishing to testify at the hearing may notify the TLC in advance, either in writing or by telephone to the TLC’s Office of Legal Affairs at the address and telephone given below. Any request for a sign language interpreter or other form of reasonable accommodation for a disability at the hearing must be submitted to the Office of Legal Affairs in writing, by telephone, or by TTY/TDD no later than December 6, 2007.

Written comments in connection with these proposed rules should be submitted to the Office of Legal Affairs and must be received no later than November 28, 2007 to:

Charles R. Fraser,
Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs/General Counsel
Taxi and Limousine Commission
40 Rector Street, 5th Floor, New York, New York 10006
Telephone: 212-676-1117
Fax: 212-676-1102
TTY/TDD: 212-341-9596

Written comments and a summary of all comments received at the hearing will be available for public inspection at that office.

© 2015 TLC Magazine Online, Inc.