β‘π Over 7,500 New EV TLC Plate Applications Have Been Submitted (& # Is Growing)
According to THE CITY reporting, TLC confirms over 7,500 new EV applications have been submitted as of 12pm, Friday. Given Monday, 9am deadline, 10,000+ EV TLC Plate apps will likely be submitted
According to an article by THE CITY, TLC spokesperson Jason Kersten confirmed nearly 6,000 new EV FHV License (TLC Plate) applications were submitted, since the New York Taxi Workers Allianceβs (NYTWA) Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was granted.
Of note, the spokesperson said the TLC was processing 100 to 150 EV TLC Plate applications per day before the TRO π! This would imply a monthly βrun rateβ of between 3,000 to 4,500 *new* EV TLC Plate applications!!! In other words, 10,000+ EV TLC Plate applications would have likely been submitted within 3 to 6 months, even without the TRO being granted (also assuming 100 to 150 per day declines to 50 per day, after a few months).
βPrior to the lawsuit, the TLC had been processing about 100 to 150 applications a day β adding up to a total of 1,746 before the restraining order on Wednesday, according to commission spokesperson Jason Kersten. But that number has since ballooned, with the TLC receiving a total of 5,943 applications between Wednesday and Friday at noon, he said.β
- THE CITY, reporting by Haidee Chu
We believe the reported numbers are outrageous and risks serious NYC for-hire vehicle supply oversaturation, ultimately diluting TLC driver earnings long term. There are many talking points about the Uber and Lyft NYC TLC driver waitlists preventing that from happening, which misses several points. Weβll mention a few below, briefly.
ANY Black Car base can be affiliated with a new EV TLC Plate application and some drivers (often with brand new TLC Driver Licenses) are essentially just interested in βclaimingβ a TLC Plate, whether they use it themselves or not (this is like a stock market bet for them π€, they are not professional drivers).
If the TLC wanted to solve for longtime drivers being stuck in βpredatoryβ leasing arrangements there were many other, more elegant solutions that deserved debate and study (i.e., lease caps, redistributing retired TLC plates to individual drivers, etc.). Also, granting Revel, Hertz (or any business) new TLC Plates has absolutely nothing to do with solving said βpredatoryβ leasing problems. In fact, what do you think Hertz would charge for a Tesla lease to use in the NYC TLC market?
Furthermore, Uber and Lyft have a duopoly trip market share and can deactivate drivers. For all the talk about βpredatoryβ leasing companies, that we estimate control ~30% of TLC Plate supply, people forget ~70% of TLC Plates are controlled by individual drivers.
What people have forgotten about is Uber and Lyftβs 70%+ total NYC for-hire vehicle trip market share. If Uber raised its commission (βtake rateβ) by 5%-10%, what could a TLC driver do? If a TLC-licensed driver buys a $50,000 Tesla Model Y with a 6 year, 10%+ interest rate loan to only be unfairly deactivated by Uber and Lyft π€, what power does that commercially-licensed driver have?
Uber, the TLC, much of the media, many drivers all describe the TLC fleets as predators, some definitely are and should be called out. This is the talking point to justify TLCβs policy of reinstating the EV exemption to the TLC Plate Cap. What is Uber though? A monopolist that believes all the regulations Uber has to abide by are unfair, but OTHERS are predators? β οΈβ οΈ.
When horrible, unethical and perhaps illegal policymaking is practiced, this is the result. In this publicationβs opinion, it increasingly seems like NYTWAβs legal action was justified. Even without the TRO, 10,000+ EV TLC Plate applications would have been submitted within months.
Finally, we once again call for David Do to resign as Chair & Commissioner of the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC), effective immediately.
Link to THE CITY article
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by emailing us at info@automarketplace.com.
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Simply put, the judge should immediately put a stop to new applications. Itβs obvious the corporations (likely Revel and Hertz) are playing games with applications for vehicles that donβt exist at the moment, meaning they donβt have legitimate VIN numbers and are just submitting applications with phantom, made-up VIN numbers. These applications, too, should be denied as they are making a mockery of the judgeβs order and the spirit of these applications are to circumvent the judgeβs intentions. At the end of the day it looks like there will be a stay issued by the judge that actually had no teeth and, in fact and counterintuitively, only accelerated the problem at hand: the over-saturation of FHV vehicles in the NYC market. Not since the 1930s have we had a problem like this that the very agency (the TLC) that was supposed to have prevented it is actually responsible for it. Absolutely incredible.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this could ever happen. The whole thing has just seems surreal and, as someone who has studied economics, I am incredulous to the denial and ignorance of basic economic principles. The depth of stupidity is so stunning that the ONLY REASONABLE EXPLANATION is that there has been some form of CORRUPTION to have made people made decisions that will eventually ruin many drivers earnings, livelihoods, and possibly even their lives (suicides all over again). Considering that the FBI is now seriously investigating the actual Mayor, itβs possible the other parts of City government (including the TLC) are compromised because as the prophetic statement goes, βa fish rots from the head down.β
Why once the Stop Order is given should there be a deadline days in advance. It should be immediate!