🖰 (Do)ubling (Do)wn
NYC Taxi & Limousine Chair David Do is sticking with a "How Quick Can You Click?" process for the 2nd EV TLC Plate release this Wed. We continue to find process ridiculous, but outline how to prepare
We’ve written separate pieces, both before and after the first 600 (of 1,000) EV FHV License (a/k/a TLC Plate) online “Statement of Interest” form process, calling on the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) to reassess its approach.
Now, with two days left until the launch of the second 400 (of 1,000) EV TLC Plate allocation release, David Do’s Taxi Commission doesn’t appear to be swayed by our or thousands of other TLC drivers’ calls (some loudly & some quietly behind closed doors) to change the “How quick can you click?…First Come, First Served” 🖰 process.
If you were a 10 year TLC “veteran” driver that’s been in a leasing arrangement, who lost out to a newer TLC driver because they clicked a button 45 seconds faster than you, how would that make you feel?
People, including regulators, are allowed to make mistakes (obviously, to an extent). Chair Do is allowed to make a few, every once in a while. You can’t be unfair, importantly that’s a two way street. Not taking ownership and fixing a mistake, when you still can, is less understandable.
Perhaps this time, the interest form will not auto-timeout after 2,500 submissions, but we still expect the 400 (of 1,000) EV TLC Plates to be allocated within the first 30 to 60 seconds⌛ of the “Interest Form” going live at 10am, this Wednesday, March 29th.
Given our responsibility to our readership, no matter how much we disagree with the TLC’s process, we prepared two short videos to help guide those interested in getting an EV TLC Plate allocation on Wednesday.
If any new information becomes available, we will update our readers. In addition, we plan to publish actively on Wednesday, including on our YouTube channel.
🏎️ Be Ready
Drivers (& others) should prepare to act quickly, making sure they have a strong & stable internet connection 🔗, are not distracted (i.e., driving), reference an accurate watch ⌚📱 and be on the TLC 🖱️🚕 guided site before 10am (refreshing the page constantly as 10am approaches and passes until the form or link to the form appears).
3 Minute Explainer
1 Minute Explainer
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by emailing us at info@automarketplace.com.
To those applying, good luck on Wednesday!
AutoMarketplace.com NYC covers the for-hire transportation industry and automotive news. Check out AutoMarketplace.com on YouTube ▶️
A much fairer process would have been to have had an open enrollment period of a week or two for all 1,000 vehicle licenses for individual drivers without a vehicle license and who are renting vehicles. Of those applicants, give priority to those drivers with the most years of active driving and make the list public for transparency purposes. There is no reason whatsoever to hand over licenses to corporations while we have a CRISIS of predatory leasing. Moreover, the choice of vehicles should have been broadened to include (at minimum) hybrid vehicles in order to prevent a likely over demand and subsequent price hikes on EVs that are already pretty expensive. This process has been a disaster and will be much, much worse on Wednesday morning and, as you rightly predict, will probably be over in less than a minute considering the applicant pool quintuples for a lesser number of applications.