By now, many of you have heard of the City's plans to issue a new kind of taxi that will be responsible for street hail fares in the outer boroughs exclusively, without the advantage of dispatching.  We're against this proposal because we don't think there is enough demand in these areas for drivers to make a living on street hails alone.

Garages, brokers, and medallion lenders are pushing the City Council, State Assembly and Senate for the right to auction 1,500 new yellow taxi medallions (same type as we have now) that would be linked to the creation of 6,000 new outer borough medallion taxis.  Some livery bases want the outer borough taxis to have their own separate medallion. 

1,500 new medallions will mean more congestion and competition in Manhattan -- in other words, lower income for drivers.  14,737 taxis competing for daily bread in a concentrated area amid hard economic times.  Since no evident increase in demand exists in Manhattan, are these numbers limited only by how much profit the owners would like to make? 

Taxi drivers themselves won't be profiting anything.  They aren't able to afford these new medallions when they go up for auction.  Not even the livery bases can offer the $600,000 to $1 million apiece.  Only the super wealthy will be included here.  If an owner-operator taxi driver then goes to sell on the open market, he will be less likely to find buyers.  Additionally, our leases would go up to pay for the new inflated medallion value.

Our Proposal

For these reasons, we support a zero-value outer borough medallion, issued via lottery -- not an auction -- to experienced, interested livery and taxi drivers, and to returning war veterans.

A Zero-Value Medallion License Will:

• Not interfere with the value of the current medallion
• Ensure that drivers of the outer-borough taxis will not be burdened with high leases.  If livery drivers who serve both pre-arranged calls and illegal street pick ups have trouble making ends meet without the burden of the lease, drivers can't possibly survive paying a lease while completing only street pick ups. 

The call for the medallion auction has only surfaced as part of the negotiations over the outer borough plan.  It is a means for fleets and lenders to control the value of their asset, all the while undercutting the workers on the streets.  It is disingenuous and deceptive to package this move as some sort of transit policy.    

Armed with a small digital camera and lots of patience, we asked four of our members to run an experiment: spend an entire shift (night or day) doing street hail pick-ups only in an outer borough.  Drivers were allowed to wait outside busy shopping centers, subway stations, and established taxi stands as well, but mainly cruise around without the advantage of a dispatching system.   

Getting to know Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx in a whole new way.

We understand that public demand will increase with awareness of changes within the industry, but our results were still pretty grim.    

Campaigns for a Fare Raise, Health and Wellness Fund, and greater collective bargaining rights are high underway and have never been so close within our reach.  Now, we need to build driver power by getting more drivers involved and becoming members!  If you have friends who you think would be interested in learning more about NYTWA, please let us know and we will reach out to them.  Come by the office or remind them that they can drop by any time during open office hours (M-Th, 2-10 pm, Fri 2-8 pm) or call for more information.    

Project RICE is a free research program in conjunction with NYTWA and NYU School of Medicine where you will receive support from a Community Health Worker to help you live a healthier life and prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart attack.  Our Community Health Workers are members of the taxi worker community with extensive knowledge of health and the needs of drivers.   

If you are eligible to participate, you will receive a series of 6 free educational sessions:

• Healthy Living and Preventing Chronic Diseases
• Healthy Eating
• Staying Active
• Heart Disease and Diabetes Complications
• Managing Stress
• Accessing Health Services in NYC 

Each of them are held at the NYTWA office for one hour in small group settings.  Day Drivers: Mondays @ 6:00 p.m.  Night Drivers: Monday night shift at 12:00 a.m. midnight.

At the May 19th public hearing, the TLC unanimously approved making the Port Authority Bus Terminal morning group rides permanent, despite a daily average of only 10 rides in the 4-hour period.  "If you consider only 2.5 rides an hour a smashing success, what do you consider a failure?", TWA spokesman, Bill Lindauer, sarcastically asked the commission.

Elimination of some bus routes in Brooklyn and Queens spurred the TLC to approve vans on those routes.  The results were dismal, with daily ridership between 2 and 27 passengers, so the TLC terminated the project.  The low demand was blamed on the charge being $2.00 and the 3 month period between the elimination of the buses and the introduction of the van pilot program.

The TLC claimed that passengers had found alternate means of travel during that interim.  But group riding to Manhattan from September's U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing received the TLC's okay.  The TLC pledged more outreach to drivers and tournament attendees.  Also, rule-making was passed for stiffer refusal penalties, including revocation.  

At the June public hearing to be held at Bronx Borough Hall on the 16th, the TLC will consider new Owner Must Drive rules and new lost property rules. 

In July, the agency will take up vehicle specifications for the period before the introduction of the Taxi of Tomorrow expected in late 2013.  The July session will also consider new rooftop ad rules to create more revenue for owners and drivers.       

In addition to surveying a sample of the public on what their concerns and suggestions may be, focus groups with those working in the industry were held, including one comprised of NYTWA Organizational Committee members and staff.   Here, we addressed issues of ergonomics/driver comfort, structural necessities, and mechanical success.  According to TLC, Nissan found our focus group to be "exceptionally helpful" in expressing the needs of drivers while also keeping the riding public in mind.  

Want a little bit of history?   New York City Taxi Cabs - Then & Now (automopedia.org) 

With plans to sign off on a new "Taxi of Tomorrow" vehicle that is, unexpectedly, not wheelchair-accessible, the City had hoped to get a class action discrimination suit against the TLC dismissed on May 24th, but a Federal judge has ordered that it will remain.  Taxis for All, Disabled In Action and the United Spinal Association, among other advocates for the disabled, point out that only 231 wheelchair-accessible taxis are currently available of the more than 13,000 total yellow cabs, and less than 2% of medallions are issued to accessible taxis.  

Still, lawyers for the City claim that no federal or local law is in place that requires cabs to be accessible in NYC, and that there actually is an accessible version of the new taxi model, although owners will not be required to purchase it.  TLC is instead developing a dispatching program allowing people to call in if they need a wheelchair-accessible yellow taxi.  This, for many, is not enough.   

Both parties are due back in court on August 10th.     

A few weeks ago, NYTWA member, Francis A. Yeaboah, discovered that he had lost his wallet.  Luckily, a woman found and sought to return it.  Even more fortunate was that he had his membership identification card inside, so she was able to easily call our office and ask, "Does anyone by the name of Francis work there?"  "No, but we do have a member here by that name", Sophia, our staff person, replied.  With a quick reference to his hack number, we were able to put them in touch with one other.  Francis called us back a little later, overjoyed.  He had gotten his wallet back.  Just one of the hidden benefits of being a member.