Discover more from AutoMarketplace
🗣️ NYC Council Hearing: Medallions, Taximeter, Driver Pay, TLC Plates, Ads & Deactivations (Part 1)
We summarize three hour, Friday, October 13th, NYC Council Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure hearing on several proposed TLC industry bills
Last Friday (October 13th), there was a three hour (👀) NYC Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing. A lot of great information was disclosed and useful direct testimony from the TLC, drivers and other participants was presented.
In order to help our readers quickly digest the hearing, we believe it can be categorized as follows:
PART 1 covers:
🚕 Taxi Medallion Industry: current state of industry, update on MRP/MRP+ debt restructuring program, taxi medallion foreclosures & valuations, taximeter vs. e-hail payouts to yellow cabs drivers (i.e., Uber partnership with taxis)
💰 TLC Plates & Driver Earnings: update on how many TLC Plates remain in storage and reissuance plans, status of 1,000 *new* EV-only distribution and health of FHV industry and driver earnings
📺 In-Vehicle Advertising: TLC reasoning of why they are against in-vehicle advertising, despite City Councillor Frias proposal and driver advocacy
PART 2 covers:
❌ Driver Deactivations: A lot of public testimony revolved around unfair Uber & Lyft deactivations
We created a series of shorter video clips where we highlight testimony we found interesting.
To watch the entire City Council hearing please click here.
🚕 Taxi Medallions
Highlights includes direct NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission testimony from Ryan Wanttaja, First Deputy Commissioner, and Edward Wilton, CFO/Deputy Commissioner of Finance for the TLC Finance Division. Additional commentary from Bhairavi Desai, President of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), TLC Drivers, City Councilmembers Selvena N. Brooks-Powers (Chair of Committee) and Shekar Krishnan.
Video summary below related to taxi medallion relief program debt restructuring (MRP/MRP+) and current state of taxi medallion industry. Notable stats below.
$445 million of debt relief has been granted to smaller taxi medallion owners
$58 million from MRP, $387 million from MRP+
1,879 owners, representing 2,258 medallions have participated in MRP programs (i.e., medallion owners with 6 medallions or less were allowed to participate)
2,001 medallions owners have applied and MRP+ process currently takes about 12 weeks to complete from start to finish
Later on, TLC states 2,900 medallions (different from individuals) have been serviced since the inception of Owner/Driver Resource Center (ODRC) in 2020
16% of taxi medallion loans are more than 90 days overdue
21% are generally delinquent (loan > 30 days past due), which represents ~400 medallions (i.e., implies 2,000 active medallion-related loan benchmark?)
~800 taxi medallion loans still need to be restructured according to NYTWA, but their lenders have not signed up
Video summary below related to ensuring the taximeter is used for yellow cab trips that are “e-hailed”. Essentially, a yellow cab driver’s *net* earnings would not be impacted vs. same trip done if he/she/they used the taximeter.
Councilmember Shekar Krishnan’s proposed bill Intro 1079-2023 calls for the following:
“This bill would require that, for any taxi trip provided by an e-hail application, the e-hail application provider pay the driver an amount at least equal to that which the driver would have received had the passenger been retrieved through a traditional street hail and the metered rate of pay been in effect”
- Int. 1079, lead sponsor NYC Councilmember Shekar Krishnan
💰 TLC Plates & Driver Earnings
Highlights includes direct NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission testimony from Ryan Wanttaja, First Deputy Commissioner. City Councilmembers Selvena N. Brooks-Powers (Chair of Committee) and Amanda Farías are also featured.
Video summary below relates to number of TLC Plates in storage after expiration of pandemic program, TLC's thoughts around re-issuing forfeited TLC Plates, an update on the *new* 1,000 EV-only TLC Plate process held in March / lessons learned and TLC’s thoughts on what’s driving the increase in number of *new* TLC Driver Licenses. Notable stats below.
2,684 TLC Plates are currently still in storage, related to recently expired pandemic era FHV License Storage program, BUT “bulk” of them are in the process of being reactivated
TLC did not share number of permanently forfeited TLC Plates from the expired storage program
Regulator hasn’t decided whether to re-issue forfeited TLC Plates from storage program
20,548 *new* TLC Driver Licenses issued this year vs. last year is being driven by attractive income opportunities the sector offers and is not oversaturating market
Uber and Lyft’s utilization rate is ~58%, which is where it was pre-pandemic
📺 In-Vehicle Advertising
Highlights include direct NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission testimony from Ryan Wanttaja, First Deputy Commissioner. International Transportation Regulator Authority’s (IATR) representative Patricia L. Gatling, Councilmembers Selvena N. Brooks-Powers (Chair of Committee) and Amanda Farías testimony is also featured.
Councilmember Amanda Farías’ proposed bill Intro 1139-2023 calls for the following:
“This bill would permit for-hire vehicles to display digital advertising on an electronic tablet attached to the interior of the vehicle.”
- Int. 1139, lead sponsor NYC Councilmember Amanda Farías’
Video summary below relates to comments on in-vehicle advertising in NYC FHVs. Notable stats below.
When a customer sees a visible tip reminder on an in-vehicle “infotainment screen”, drivers see a 13% increase in tips received
No bills were voted on in this hearing, only discussed.
Look out for Part 2, focused on driver deactivation testimony, later this week!
To watch the entire City Council hearing please click here.
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by emailing us at info@automarketplace.com.
AutoMarketplace NYC covers the for-hire transportation industry and automotive news. Check out AutoMarketplace on YouTube ▶️