Ride-sharing apps are under attack. And that’s because transportation policy expert Bruce Schaller, a man who’s worked for the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, wrote a report saying that Uber is not helping to alleviate traffic.
“They haven’t relieved congestion and probably won’t, at least anytime soon,” a Tampa Bay Times reporter explained while reporting on the study.
Listening to Schaller, the New York City Council promptly passed legislation that limits the number of licenses the local government can hand over to vehicles being used in ride-hail services each year. In addition, the piece of legislation also allows the city to set a minimum pay rate for ride-sharing drivers.
By passing these pay rules, New York becomes the first city to directly regulate Uber pay rates.
Unfortunately, economic laws demonstrate that with the government intervening so directly in the market, the tendency is to see a rise in costs for consumers. And with the city also restricting the number of new vehicle licenses, Uber may have a hard time meeting the densely populated city’s demands.
Despite this reality, New York City Council speaker Corey Johnson promised just the opposite, while reassuring New Yorkers they are here to take everybody’s needs into account.
“We are pausing the issuance of new licenses in an industry that has been allowed to proliferate without any appropriate check or regulation,” Johnson said, adding that “the rules would not diminish existing service for New Yorkers who rely on ride-hail apps” The New York Times reported.
“More than 100,000 workers and their families will see an immediate benefit from this legislation,” NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio added. “And this action will stop the influx of cars contributing to the congestion grinding our streets to a halt.”
Apparently oblivious of the laws of economics, these two men promised New York City that all Uber drivers will be happy and well paid while all ride demands will be met without ever mentioning who will pay for the added cost associated with the city’s new rules.
Perhaps, de Blasio cares little for New Yorkers living outside Manhattan, where the subway does not reach and where ride-sharing comes in handy. So much for helping the working man.
Uber Is A Scapegoat, NYC’s Goal Is To Fight For The Status Quo
The price of a taxi medallion in New York City, which drivers are required to have to operate a taxi cab, went from $1 million to less than $200,000 as ride-sharing apps became popular across the city.
Taxi drivers are desperate, saying they can’t afford anything and that the cap on companies like Uber and Lyft will help them to make ends meet. Finding another job or even becoming an Uber driver to them appears to be out of the question, so local government must do something to make them happy again.
In a statement, Lyft reminded the public that the cap will not just hurt individuals who were hoping to join the ride-sharing apps for work, but also folks in impoverished parts of town.
“These sweeping cuts to transportation will bring New Yorkers back to an era of struggling to get a ride, particularly for communities of color and in the outer boroughs,” Lyft’s Vice President Joseph Okpaku said.
In blue New York City, what matters is to keep taxi cab drivers who refuse to change profession or simply admit defeat on top, while keeping the poor man in the outskirts of town in danger of losing their jobs and being forced out of New York because they can’t afford to get to work.
And as the cost of living in New York City continues to rise, with the local and state governments continuing to implement new taxes, regulations, and restrictions that transfer the added cost of doing business to the consumer, it’s hard to see anyone but the extremely wealthy getting along in the Big Apple. Once again, government will be working to protect the status quo, making the rich richer while dumping all the extra cost of doing so with the working man.
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