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Tag: Taxi and Limousine Commission

  • Editorial | Deactivating danger for rideshare operators, drivers and customers | amNewYork

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    A customer is picked up by a rideshare in Manhattan in Aug. 2024.

    File Photo by Dean Moses

    Rideshare drivers in New York City, like taxi drivers, earn their keep based on how often they work shuttling riders where they need to be. The more they work, the more they earn.

    In working for a rideshare outlet like Lyft or Uber, the driver is responsible for proper conduct and following the rules of the road. They earn a percentage of the fares charged. But one bad decision or mistake can put a rideshare driver out of commission indefinitely.

    Through a process known as “deactivation,” a rideshare operator can prohibit one of its drivers from taking on work pending further investigation. Deactivation generally occurs when a customer flags the company for bad behavior on the driver’s part — from reckless driving to harassment and other offenses — or for other offenses such as lapsed licenses or registration.

    In the eyes of rideshare operators, deactivation is essential to protecting their own interests because they are legally responsible for their drivers’ actions. Sidelining a driver for a 24-hour period to investigate a report of unlawful behavior prevents the driver accused of it from potentially committing a similar offense. 

    Yet advocates for rideshare drivers, such as the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, argue that the deactivation process is too arbitrary, lacks a proper due process structure, and can put a driver out of commission for days, if not weeks, based on a mere accusation. The consequences of deactivation can be economically devastating.

    The City Council is considering a bill to intervene and set new guidelines for rideshare deactivation. Intro. 276, sponsored by Queens Council Member Shekar Krishnan, would establish requirements that rideshare companies provide two weeks’ notice to a potentially deactivated driver. This would, in the bill’s supporters’ minds, offer an ample opportunity for a driver to form a defense to present to their rideshare company and remain on the road.

    Rideshare companies are opposed to the bill. Lyft Chief Policy Officer Jerry Golden argued in a Sept. 22 letter to the City Council that it would impede the company’s ability to immediately halt drivers “for repeated unsafe driving, discrimination, or sexual harassment … placing additional riders in harm’s way.”

    Both sides in the battle over deactivation have serious merit to their arguments. The rideshare companies must protect themselves and the public from genuinely bad drivers. But the drivers themselves cannot afford surprise suspensions under a “guilty-until-proven-innocent” environment that can cost them their livelihoods.

    It is incumbent upon the rideshare companies and the drivers at large to hash out a fair agreement that provides proper protection without resorting to a legislative mandate that tips the scales out of favor, and may put the public at risk. 

    Instead, the City Council and Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) should facilitate negotiations that bring about a fair deal for all involved.

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    amNewYork

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  • Driverless taxis in NYC? Keep Waymo off the streets, say union protesters

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    Livery drivers with the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers rallied outside Gov. Hochul’s midtown office on Monday, calling for an end to the city’s testing of driverless taxi cars by tech giant Waymo.

    “Taxi and livery drivers risk their lives every day to transport New Yorkers safely,” NYSFTD president Steven Rivera said in a statement. “Robots cannot replace human instinct, compassion, or accountability.”

    Monday’s rally, in which about a dozen drivers showed up outside Hochul’s office, comes days after Mayor Adams’ announcement on Friday that the city had approved an application by the Google subsidiary, allowing it to test eight driverless cars in Downtown Brooklyn and in Manhattan south of 110th St.

    The cars will still be required to have humans in the driver seat, and Waymo will have to file a report with the city each time the human driver has to take over for the robotaxi.

    City and state law forbids the eight cars from acting as taxis during the test period, and Waymo has not applied for plates with the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.

    Nevertheless, Fernando Mateo, a spokesman for the Federation of Taxi Drivers, said the test was a grave threat to his members’ livelihood.

    “Cancer starts with a dot and then it spreads,” Mateo told The News Monday. “This is a cancer to us.”

    All three organizations representing Gotham’s taxi, livery and ride-share drivers have now called on the city to end testing and protect the jobs of human drivers.

    Last week, Brendan Sexton, head of the Independent Drivers Guild, accused Adams of turning Gothamites into “lab rats for Silicon Valley investors who are seeking to destroy the livelihoods of the 100,000 New Yorkers.”

    Bhairavi Desai, head of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, questioned whether there was any real consumer demand.

    “If you don’t want to be around people, there’s plenty of other places to live around the country,” Desai told the Daily News Friday. “Does New York really need a driverless car to feel advanced?”

    Asked about the rally, Sean Butler, a spokesman for Hochul, emphasized that the state was ensuring the safety of any driverless technology testing.

    “State law establishes clear procedures for permitting of autonomous vehicle testing, with the highest safety standards applied,” he said in a statement. “New York State will continue to work with New York City officials to ensure the safety of any testing program.”

    Waymo began lobbying in June for New York to allow fully autonomous robotaxis on city streets, a move that is currently prohibited by state law.

    In July, the company began running its vehicles — identifiable by their spinning, roof-mounted sensor system — along city streets, but always with a human in full control.

    Last week, less than two months later, the city’s Transportation Department approved Waymo’s plans to let computers begin to take the wheel — albeit with a human ready to jump in if need be.

    A law that would allow autonomous vehicle operation in the state is currently before the Transportation Committee of the State Senate, but is spinning its wheels in the Assembly.

    With Barry Williams

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