New York City drops Uber cap plans
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has backed down on plans to place a cap on Uber’s growth in the city, pending the results of a four-month study into the effect that Uber and other for-hire-vehicle (FHV) operators have on traffic. A City Council bill, which had called for a cap on the company’s growth while the study was conducted, was scheduled to have come to a vote today (Thursday, 23 July). However, it seems that Uber has managed to bring this to a stop – for now, at least.
As part of the deal, Uber will have to make data available to the City so it can conduct its analysis.
Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, whose drivers appeared at a rally at City Hall on Monday (20 July), claimed that the mayor had “just basically caved.”
Ahead of the Mayor’s decision, Uber had been trying to marshal public support through a series of ads and well-publicised Twitter support from celebrities.
The ride-hailing company had won support from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who described Uber as “one of the great inventions of this new economy” and maintained “I don’t think government should be in the business of trying to restrict job growth.”
Uber launched in New York in 2011. Since then, the number of for-hire vehicles has grown to more than 63,000 – of which about 20,000 are connected to Uber, according to Taxi and Limousine Commission figures quoted by the New York Times. Uber claimed that the cap would have resulted in the loss of thousands of potential new jobs.
