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Livery Cab Street Pick Ups Would Be Outer Borough Only
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 19, 2011
Modified Jan 19, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 19, 2011
Modified Jan 19, 2011
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More information about Mayor Bloomberg's plan to legalize livery cab pickups has emerged before he officially announces it at today's 1 p.m. State of the City speech. The most important detail being that the plan would not legalize livery pickups in Manhattan—only in the outer boroughs, where regular cabs generally fear to tread. Shockingly, yellow cab drivers are not amused.
Under the proposed rules livery hacks that want to pick up fares off the street would have to have meters, credit-card readers, GPS locaters and some kind of recognizable marking like a uniform color. Livery cabs would also have to use some kind of fare structure, though what exactly hasn't been determined. All of which sounds to us like the city would basically be expanding our existing taxi fleet without actually expanding it.
Yellow cab drivers, whose medallions sell for more than half-a-million bucks, aren't liking the idea of these "borough" cabs one bit. "What if they go to the airport?" Or if they've dropped a fare in Manhattan "what guarantee do [drivers] have that the street hails are not going to continue?” members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance wondered. The airport one is easy (they'd go to the airport—people have been taking livery cabs to airports forever) but the second one is a good question that will be tricky to enforce.
And nothing is going to happen overnight. Bloomberg has to actually announce the plan and then the City Council still needs to give it the ok.
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Garth Johnston
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