Uber filed a lawsuit on Friday to overturn New York City’s first-in-the-nation law capping the number of ride-hail drivers that operate on its streets. The law, which went into effect last August, paused the issuance of new licenses to drivers for 12 months. But Uber wants the law overturned for fear that the city will ultimately make the cap permanent.
The law was part of a sweeping legislative package passed
by the New York City Council last summer to give regulators more
control over e-hail companies. In addition to the cap, the city council
also approved a minimum pay standard among drivers, with the goal of
reducing how much time empty cars spend on the road.
Rather than rely on alternatives supported by transportation experts and economists, the City chose to significantly restrict service, growth and competition by the for-hire vehicle industry, which will have a disproportionate impact on residents outside of Manhattan who have long been underserved by yellow taxis and mass transit. The City made this choice in the absence of any evidence that doing so would meaningfully impact congestion, the problem the City was ostensibly acting to solve.
While wildly popular among riders, Uber and Lyft have
been a source of almost constant grief for policymakers, disability
advocates, taxi medallion holders, and driver groups. Critics complain
that Uber and Lyft have been allowed to dominate the market without
having to follow many of the same rules that apply to taxis. This has
led to a glut of drivers that has outstripped demand, driving down wages
and increasing traffic congestion. At the time, New York City’s law
capping the number of drivers was held up as a potential model for other
cities that want to rein in the ride-hail industry.
For NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, the cap was also an opportunity for a do-over. He first proposed to limit the number of new Uber and Lyft vehicles
in 2015, but ultimately dropped it after a bruising public relations
battle with the app companies. Finding success his second time around,
de Blasio has said publicly he’s inclined to keep the cap in place after
the 12-month period expires.
“We’re going to put ongoing caps in place on the for-hire
vehicles and we’re going to work to increase the wages and benefits
[of] the drivers,” he said in a recent radio interview.
Uber says this amounts to a “‘post hoc rationalization’ of a remedy the
City appears to have already selected,” according to the suit.
A spokesperson for de Blasio did not immediately respond
to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department
declined to comment until the lawsuit had been filed.
An Uber spokesperson said the cap blocks new drivers from
receiving the benefits from the wage hike. “The City Council’s new law
guarantees a living wage for drivers, and the administration should not
have blocked New Yorkers from taking advantage of it by imposing a cap,”
the spokesperson said. “We agree that fighting congestion is a
priority, which is why we support the state’s vision for congestion
pricing, the only evidence-based plan to reduce traffic and fund mass
transit.”
The number of new app-based vehicles in New York City has
surged in the past few years, growing from 63,000 in 2015 to over
100,000 today. These new vehicles have added an unprecedented number of
new miles driven in New York City, according to a recent analysis
by traffic analyst Bruce Schaller. Trip volumes have tripled in the
last year and a half, and 600 million driving miles were added citywide.
In addition, Schaller found evidence that ridership was shifting from
public transportation to ride-hailing apps.
Meanwhile, taxi medallion owners have seen the value of their licenses drop steadily since Uber’s arrival. Saddled with debt, some taxis drivers have committed suicide — six in as many months.
“Uber thinks it is above the law,” said Bhairavi Desai,
the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “The
company wants the right to add more and more cars to our streets without
limit. But there is a very human cost to Uber’s business practices.”
Uber’s lawsuit came a day after Amazon stunned the city by pulling out of its deal to build a second headquarters
in the borough of Queens. Julie Samuels, executive director of
Tech:NYC, a nonprofit that helps grow tech companies in the city, said
she’s concerned that these combined events will send the message that
New York’s elected officials are “putting a target on tech’s back.”
“I’m not worried about Uber,” Samuels said. “I’m worried about the next company that will think twice before coming here.”
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