The price of using in a New York Metropolis taxi would soar 22.9% below a brand new metropolis proposal for the primary yellow cab meter price hike in over a decade, metropolis officers mentioned.
Charges to experience in a yellow or inexperienced taxicab have been unchanged since September 2012, the 12 months after Uber entered the New York Metropolis market and dramatically reworked the for-hire automotive trade, the Taxi and Limousine Fee mentioned in proposals launched final week.
Metropolis bean counters estimate the proposed price hike will enhance driver income 33% primarily based on 2019 passenger ranges, and enhance medallion income by 29.5%, the TLC mentioned.
“It’s lengthy overdue,” mentioned former TLC Chair Matt Daus, who served below Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg. “It’s most likely the longest time we’ve ever seen it than I can bear in mind, but additionally we had a pandemic. Now that we’re popping out of it, I believe it’s a good suggestion.”
The proposed hike truly entails a number of will increase, officers mentioned, starting with upping the bottom fare from $2.50 to $3. Officers additionally will create a brand new $5 surcharge for taxi journeys to and from LaGuardia Airport, in response to the proposal.
Different adjustments embrace:
- Growing the flat fare to Kennedy Airport from $52 to $65.
- Growing rush-hour and nighttime surcharges.
- Climbing the surcharge for journeys to Newark Airport from $17.50 to $20.
- Elevating the “taxi enchancment surcharge” from $0.30 to $1.
The meter hike “will assist handle the challenges of the evolving taxicab and avenue hail livery sectors and their want for revitalization by placing more cash within the pockets of drivers,” TLC officers wrote of their rule change proposal posted on the town web site.
Requested concerning the prospect of tacking on a giant enhance to get round city for New Yorkers already scuffling with inflation, Daus mentioned meter hikes sometimes put a dent in for-hire ridership, however that the demand finally returns.
“Each time we do a fare enhance, there’s at all times going to be a ridership lower. It’s often momentary. The most important concern is how lengthy it lasts,” he mentioned. “Individuals shell it out and it returns to regular.”
A separate proposal would enhance the hourly wages of Uber and different app-based drivers.
“That is one thing we fought for. We had been in talks with the TLC over this for the previous couple of months,” mentioned New York Taxi Employees Alliance govt director Bhairavi Desai.
The will increase convey NYTWA’s members “only a few inches away” from their goal of $25-an-hour wages, Desai mentioned.
The speed hike comes as MTA officers mull charging taxi and for-hire automobile passengers congestion pricing charges of $9 to $23.
TLC commissioners will maintain a listening to on the proposed price hikes on Oct. 6.
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