Symbol copyright Getty Pictures Image caption The New York Taxi Workers Alliance has defined it as a “historical victory”
New York has turn out to be the first prime US town to approve a cap on journey-hail automobile licences and set minimal pay prerequisites for drivers.
The bill will impact in style app-based products and services like Uber and Lyft, who’ve each spoken out in opposition to it.
Yellow cab drivers and anti-congestion campaigners have driven for legislation after the selection of app-based vehicles soared in contemporary years.
Approximately 80,000 now perform inside the town, versus just THIRTEEN,500 yellow cabs.
Taxi drivers demonstrated in toughen of the invoice outdoor the headquarters of the Big Apple City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) this week, keeping signs with the names and faces of six taxi drivers who had taken their lives since December.
Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Symbol caption The choice of app-primarily based vehicles in New York now dwarf traditional Yellow cabs
The invoice passed on Wednesday approves a 12 months-lengthy moratorium on new trip-hail car licences for 365 days, with the exception of wheelchair available automobiles.
It also gives the TLC the facility to regulate minimal charges of fares, minimal pay for drivers and create a brand new rulebook for app corporations.
The legislation was once supported by means of Big Apple Mayor Bill de Blasio, who stated it will help “forestall the influx of cars” causing congestion in town.
However, trip-hail services and products have criticised the invoice and argued it is going to hurt consumers.
Uber stated in a press release: “The city’s 12-month pause on new car licenses will threaten one in all the few reliable transportation choices whilst doing not anything to mend the subways or ease congestion.”
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Lyft mentioned the transfer might “convey New Yorkers back to an generation of suffering to get a journey, in particular for groups of color and within the outer boroughs.”
Big Apple is the biggest US market for app Uber.
A examine closing month anticipated that app-primarily based drivers now complete over 17 million trips a month in Big Apple.
The have a look at, commissioned for the TLC, advisable a minimal hourly wage for drivers of $17.22 per hour – and found that EIGHTY FIVE% of app-based totally drivers currently internet underneath that amount.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance celebrated the vote, describing it on its web page as a ancient victory for its 18,000-member strong union.
