Travelers to New York City could soon find themselves waiting longer and paying more for ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, according to opponents of new regulations that were passed by the city’s council Wednesday.
According to CNBC, officials voted in favor of regulations on ride-hail companies that place a cap on the number of vehicles on the road for one year and require that drivers be paid a minimum wage.
The temporary cap, which won’t apply to new wheelchair-accessible vehicles or new vehicles serving areas demonstrating need in such a way that doesn’t increase congestion, will occur while the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) studies the effects of ride-hail services in New York City.
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“Our city is directly confronting a crisis that is driving working New Yorkers into poverty and our streets into gridlock,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “The unchecked growth of app-based for-hire vehicle companies has demanded action—and now we have it.”
According to data from The New School for the TLC, app-based ride services account for 80,000 vehicles in New York City and complete approximately 17 million rides per month.
Unsurprisingly, the regulations were strongly opposed by ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft.
“The city’s 12-month pause on new vehicle licenses will threaten one of the few reliable transportation options while doing nothing to fix the subways or ease congestion,” Uber said in a statement. “We take [Council Speaker Corey Johnson] at his word that the pause is not intended to reduce service for New Yorkers and we trust that he will hold the TLC accountable, ensuring that no New Yorker is left stranded.”
Meanwhile, Lyft’s vice president of public policy, Joseph Okpaku said the “sweeping cuts to transportation will bring New Yorkers back to an era of struggling to get a ride, particularly for communities of color and in the outer boroughs.”
“We will never stop working to ensure New Yorkers have access to reliable and affordable transportation in every borough,” he added in a statement.
Last year, a report from the University of California, Davis found that ride-hailing services may be negatively impacting urban environments by leading to a decline in public transportation use and adding more cars to the road. Earlier this year, Uber responded with an Express Pool service designed to cut down on ride costs and congestion.
