Published on 08/09/2018 at 8:40 am
Updated 08/09/2018 at 11:23 am
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The New York City City Council voted in favor of a one-year cap on the number of licenses granted to vehicles offering chauffeur-driven services (VTC), thus dampening the ambitions of groups such as Uber and Lyft, which draw a good deal of their income from the largest metropolitan area in the United States. The first large municipality to take such a measure, New York intends by doing so to reduce the number of traffic jams. “This measure will stop the influx of cars contributing to traffic jams (…)”, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. The number of VTCs circulating in the city has increased from 12,600 in 2015 to some 80,000 this year, according to data from the city. The number of yellow taxis stands at 14,000.
The emergency provision is also intended to stem a wave of suicides observed among the drivers of traditional yellow taxis, who are suffering a drop in their income due to competition from VTCs. At least six drivers ended their lives for reasons of financial fragility over the past 10 months.
The city has also imposed a minimum wage on Uber drivers. It will be up to the New York City Driver and Vehicle Supervision Authority (TLC) to determine the amount, but a report from the latter recommends an hourly wage of $ 17.22. It corresponds to the minimum wage that will be in effect at the end of 2018 in New York State, i.e. $ 15, increased by an amount considered necessary to cover the costs of drivers. According to the report commissioned by TLC, 85% of VTC drivers earn less than this hourly wage. Setting a minimum net hourly income of $ 17.22 would result in an average increase of 22.5% for VTC drivers, according to the study. Regarding the repercussions for users of the creation of a minimum wage, the document estimates that the cost of a ride could increase, on average, by 3 to 5% and the waiting time from 12 to 15 seconds only.
>> Read also – The strike against Uber ends in Spain after the government agreed to limit the number of licenses granted to VTC drivers
>> Read also – Uber gives up developing an autonomous truck
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