The city Council of new York can stand on the side of the iconic yellow taxi in their protracted struggle with the sworn competitors transport apps Uber and Lyft.
A few dozen owners drivers city service taxi gathered at the hearing of the Transport Committee of the city Council Monday to Express their collective dissatisfaction with the fact that the drivers on Uber and Lyft take their bread, reducing their income by 90 percent.
Taxi drivers believe that the city authorities should not have let the above-mentioned transport companies and other such services to work without paying the same fees, and not obeying the rules that are imposed on the service of yellow cab.
The owners of the official medallions taxi drivers say Uber should not be above the law. The number of taxis is limited, but the number of Uber drivers is constantly updated. Taxi service can’t raise its price, but Uber is constantly these sins. Yellow taxis are more tightly regulated by the city authorities, at the time, as Uber is enjoying relative independence. Such double standards put pressure on taxi drivers and literally cover them with oxygen.
Members of the transport Committee, after hearing all the arguments, stated that they will consider creating a task force and a six-month study of the impact of applications for travel on the sector of passenger transportation. One of the measures to stabilize the situation is to limit the total number of vehiclesoperating for Uber and other similar services.
The Committee is also considering the possibility of providing assistance to the owners of the medallions with the payment of cash, partially financed from additional fees from any vehicle engaged in the transportation of passengers, but is not included in the taxi service.
Taxi drivers are confident that any measures that will be proposed by the authorities to solve the problem should start to apply as soon as possible, because since the advent of Uber on the roads it’s been 4 years, and officials heard the voices of taxi drivers just now. While they will discuss all possible options, many taxi drivers can and do lose their livelihood.
