New York brings in congestion charge for cabs to reduce number of cars on streets

New York has brought in a congestion charge for its iconic yellow cabs
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Daniel Bates4 February 2019

New York has introduced a congestion charge for taxis in busy parts of Manhattan to reduce the number of cars on the streets.

Passengers in the city’s famous yellow cabs will have to pay an extra $2.50 if they are picked up, end their journey or pass through anywhere south of 96th Street.

The same rules apply to ride-hailing apps like Uber or Lyft only with a higher additional fee of $2.75 under the measures introduced by New York state governor Andrew Cuomo.

Critics said that it would be the end of cheap taxi rides and was unjustifiable given the terrible state of public transport in New York.

The taxi industry said that it would put even more pressure on yellow cab drivers who have been squeezed out by companies like Uber.

But Mr Cuomo’s office said that the move would raise $1 billion a year that would be spent fixing the subway system and easing traffic in Manhattan where the average speed is just 4.7mph.

The introduction of the measure, which was included in Mr Cuomo’s 2019 budget, had been delayed due to a lawsuit filed by the Taxi Worker’s Alliance, a group representing drivers.

They claimed in court that the fee would make “taxicab rides so financially unattractive to consumers that the industry is sure to collapse in its entirety”.

The Alliance pointed out that the additional charge means that yellow cab passengers are paying $5.80 before they even pull away given the basic fare of $2.30.

But Judge Lynn Kotler of State Supreme Court in Manhattan said that they had not demonstrated “irreparable injury” because the extra fee should be passed on to passengers.

She ruled that the congestion fee could go into effect at midnight on Saturday morning even though the lawsuit was still ongoing.

After her ruling Lyft sent a message to drivers saying that it “may lead to fewer rides as people find alternate ways to travel around the city”.

Uber immediately increased its prices and said in a blog post that that New York needed a “comprehensive congestion plan” that targeted all vehicles.

Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance said he hoped that “ultimately the state will do the right thing and spare drivers the poverty and crisis that would result from this congestion fee”.

Eight taxi drivers committed suicide last year due to financial pressures brought on by a glut of taxi drivers from Uber, Lyft and other such companies.

Some 78,000 taxi driver licences have been issued to the big four ride hailing apps before New York put a stay on new ones to examine its effects on traffic congestion.

Patrick Muncie, a spokesman for the governor, said the new fees were a “positive step in our efforts to find a dedicated revenue stream for our subways and buses, as well as easing congestion in Manhattan’s central business district”.

London has take a different approach to charging taxis for congestion pricing, and for different reasons.

In December London’smayor said that as of April this year minicab firms like Addison Lee and ride hailing apps will have to pay the £11.50 a day congestion charge for central London.

Sadiq Khan said that it was to clean up the “filthy air” in London and that companies like Uber had to “play their part”.

Minicab companies said that fares could go up by 20 per cent and make them as expensive as black cabs.

The charge is expected to raise some £30 million a year for Transport for London.

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