Due to the economic crisis brought about by the pandemic, thousands of taxi drivers were forced to return the license plates of their service vehicles to the Taxi and Limousine Commission. Now many work in private cars, but this carries risks that could be avoided by having taxi license plates.
“Our work is very difficult, risky and dangerous.”
This is what Fernando Reynoso says, who has been behind the wheel for 35 years, circulating through the harsh streets of New York City. And that is how he has been able to support his large family.
“I have six boys, children. Thank God I have kept them all, with this guide, with this flyer, I have been taxing since 1984 and I am proud of it, and I am proud of myself because there is a (daughter) who is a paramedic, another who is a police officer, there is another who is a lawyer,” says Reynoso.
Like him, 97,000 taxi drivers drive a car with plates issued by the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, or TLC. However, more than 5,000 drivers with a taxi license use their private vehicles, without TLC license plates. Well, during the pandemic, more than 30,000 taxi license plates were returned to the Taxi and Limousine Commission in 2020, 2021 and 2022, as drivers could not afford expensive insurance, due to lack of customers.
This is a very serious situation, because they don’t have the proper insurance, they don’t have the proper vehicle, and they’re working on one. An industry that has rules and regulations,” says Fernando Mateos, spokesman for the New York Taxi Drivers Federation.
Reynoso never leaves his house without hugging his loved ones, and although he wears his seatbelt, it is the taxi insurance the city requires that gives him some peace of mind.
“You entrust yourself to God because you know you are leaving your house and you don’t know if you can get there alive. I have a coverage that covers me from any accident that a passenger has in my car. It says that they give you 100,000 pesos ( dollars) for each person, there you have all the deductions, everything, I pay around 7,000 dollars a year for this insurance,” adds Reynoso.
Taxi drivers without TLC regulated license plates cannot obtain this insurance.
“There are many drivers who, for reasons, do not have their taxi license plates and are running the risk by mounting people on the street, they cannot use the device because they have a personal license plate, a private license plate, and then they have more risk than one,” says Reynoso.
And while the Taxi and Limousine Commission has returned nearly 2,500 plates, there are still more than 27,000 withheld.
“To protect all these taxi drivers who for so many years have maintained their taxi license as well as their license, then we must protect them so that no taxi driver is illegally driving a private car and mounting passengers,” concludes Antonio Cabrera, president of the Federation of New York taxi driver.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission assured that they will continue to issue new license plates to increase the flow of public vehicles.
2023-07-27 16:11:00
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