Cabbies face off with ride share drivers over cap on for-hire cars

Cabbies faced off against each other in front of the Taxi and Limousine Commission on Tuesday, debating plans to extend the cap on for-hire vehicles — and to reduce the amount of time app-based drivers can cruise around without passengers in Manhattan.

Supporters, which included many yellow taxi drivers, said the new restrictions would increase current hacks’ earnings and reduce congestion in Manhattan’s Central Business District.

“The more Uber and Lyft… on the street, the more drivers that don’t make money. The more drivers that don’t make money, the more suicides,” testified driver Richard Chow, whose brother Kenny committed suicide after buying an expensive medallion then going bankrupt.

But the app-based companies and many other drivers said the restrictions are actually punishing cabbies.

“As currently structured, this vehicle cap is blocking thousands of drivers like me from owning their own vehicles,” testified driver Tina Raveneau, who said she leased an already-licensed ride-hail vehicle with the hopes of buying one eventually.

The city wants to indefinitely suspend the issuance of new licenses for Ubers and Lyfts — following a temporary limit passed in August — and to reduce the amount of time drivers can cruise without fares below 60th Street to 31 percent of total driver time.

Before the license cap went into effect, Uber and Lyft warned that it would result in service decreasing citywide — and especially in the outerboroughs — while wait times would increase across the board. Neither prediction came true, according to city data.

“Each of these concerns is important, but we simply have not seen evidence of them,” said Acting TLC Chair Bill Heinzen.

But the companies argued that the cap has had other negative impacts, including creating an unregulated secondary market where drivers with now-coveted licensed vehicles are leasing the them to those who have to go without — even though the TLC says that such license transfers aren’t permitted.

The companies also argue that the TLC shouldn’t move to impose more restrictions while they are still navigating new minimum wage rules enacted in February that require them to pay their drivers $17.27 and hour.

“The current TLC rules have led to numerous unintended consequences for drivers and riders,” said Lyft spokesperson Campbell Matthews. “It’s critical that the TLC understands the damage these rules will continue to do to the community before enacting new policies.”

The commission plans to vote on the proposed rule changes at the end of the month.

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