‘Moving marbles round’
TLC Commissioner David Do didn’t particularly reply to considerations swirling across the tolls for the for-hire and taxi business however mentioned in an announcement that he seems “forward to the important discussion on fairness for taxis and for-hire vehicles as the public review period progresses.”
Following the six upcoming hearings, which is able to run between Aug. 25 to the 31, the MTA’s board will vote on suggestions put ahead by the six-member Traffic Mobility Review Board. Transportation officers say they goals to implement congestion pricing by the top of 2023 or early 2024.
“We encourage drivers and their representatives to share their views with the public and the project sponsors by participating in the public hearings or submitting comments for the record,” MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan mentioned in an announcement.
Bruce Schaller, a transportation advisor who helped the Bloomberg administration craft preliminary congestion pricing proposals, mentioned that the MTA should guarantee it creates a degree taking part in subject with the tolls.
“You don’t want to hurt one industry segment and have people coming in from another,” mentioned Schaller. “This is not an exercise in moving marbles around the table, right? We’re trying to take some marbles off the table.”
Changes in circumstances for for-hire automobiles and yellow cabs, the environmental evaluation acknowledges, may additionally “create adverse socioeconomic effects if a substantial number of residents or workers who depend on taxis or FHVs would no longer be served, thereby affecting their access to transportation.”
Matthew Daus, a former commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, mentioned the MTA ought to think about a program that might divert cash into offering for-hire automobiles for final mile journeys in neighborhoods underserved by mass transit.
“Ubers and Lyfts and FHVs are very efficient—they can transport passengers without bringing additional cars into the system,” mentioned Daus. “So why are we discouraging them from coming into the city to do the work?”