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Why is everyone treating this news like it's all or nothing ("oh noes they want us to go back to medallion cabs!") rather than assessing it at face value. The
by CPLX 8y ago
Why is everyone treating this news like it's all or nothing ("oh noes they want us to go back to medallion cabs!") rather than assessing it at face value.
The number of TLC cars has skyrocketed recently. Which, in many important ways, is a good thing. But this is a crowded city, literally everything that is at risk of runaway growth in this city is regulated, and for good reason, all the way down to hot dog carts.
This city could rapidly be unlivable otherwise. The growth of TLC cars has created obvious problems, they are often oblivious to their surroundings, blocking streets while they stare at the screen trying to find a pickup, creating localized congestion, etc.
I'm not sure if a numerical limit is the answer, or geographic restrictions, or who knows, but what it sounds like is the city is starting to think about it. Good.
- nradov 8y agoA market based mechanism such as a variable congestion charge would probably be a better way to restrict traffic.
- dsr_ 8y agoA market based mechanism such as a strong labor union of drivers would probably be a better way to ensure livable wages.
- notsofastbuddy 8y agoThis seems orthogonal to the parent comment.
- CPLX 8y agoMaybe. It could also be highly regressive if applied to for hire cars. This shit is more complicated than a one line "markets uber alles" approach.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- deminature 8y agoAnecdotally the vast majority of street blockages I've observed are from trucks unloading, illegally double parked blocking a lane of traffic, rather than for hire cars.
- fstuff 8y agoBut as a bicyclist it's deadly. I'm in SF, it happens all the time on second St and on market. I thought they weren't even allowed to drop off on market but it happens all the time. It happens to me like once every 3 months but I see it every week happening to others. I keep an eye out for those Uber badges and expect to get cut off.
- rconti 8y agoBecause this is literally exactly why Uber came to be. It wasn't because people didn't like the color of the medallion taxis. It was because the death by a thousand cuts of incremental regulation left such a gaping hole between the crappy service being provided and the end users' needs that people were open to the idea of using a completely unregulated, clearly illegal service instead.
- CPLX 8y agoNot really. This isn't San Francisco or Miami. We don't have unregulated cars here and Uber hasn't changed that at all. We've had TLC cars for decades, aka black cars, car service cars, livery cars, etc. Taxis were never the only game in town, livery cars have been an integral part of the city's transportation network for a lot longer than Uber. I have pretty clear memories of the line outside Northside in Williamsburg every weekend night 15 years ago when I lived there. What happened was we all got little GPS enabled devices in our pocket so instead of having to call or wait at a storefront car service spot we could arrange it all in seconds. Way better, to be sure. But in NYC Uber hasn't really changed the legal framework like it's tried to do elsewhere, it's mostly just a better way to hail and track them. And the pool thing changes the dynamics somewhat as well. Which is great and all. But we don't have an unregulated illegal car service thing here, or to the extent we do it's unrelated to Uber. New York's TLC has regulated for-hire cars for a long long time and still do.
- mancerayder 8y agoThe number of TLC cars has skyrocketed recently. Which, in many important ways, is a good thing. But this is a crowded city, literally everything that is at risk of runaway growth in this city is regulated, and for good reason, all the way down to hot dog carts. Ironically, the Mayor wants to hand out more cart licenses, and he's already handed 5000 more parking passes for City employees. The current administration is fragile when it comes to demands of their sponsors. Medallion owners and the hotel industry are two such sponsors (Airbnb crackdown).