Ryan Wanttaja Appointed As Acting NYC TLC Chair With 3 TLC Board Spots Unfilled. Is It Time For TLC Driver & Base Representatives?
11 year NYC TLC veteran, who recently served as TLC General Counsel, appointed as Acting Chair. 3 of 9 seats on TLC Board appear to be vacant. Is it time for driver and base representatives?
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AutoMarketplace NYC Newsletter is written by Dawood Mian, Founder of AutoMarketplace (launching soon). He covers the NYC for-hire transportation industry and general automotive-mobility news. Check out AutoMarketplace on YouTube ▶️
Even for a NYC taxi and for-hire transportation industry used to volatility, the past week has been noteworthy. After news broke that NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) Chair Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk resigned, specifics on what comes next has been hard to come by. In fact, if you go to TLC’s site (as of this writing), there still isn’t a press release on the matter (only a non-specific notice for a Commission meeting on Thursday, March 17th at 10am). To be fair, this has likely blindsided the TLC itself, but drivers and other industry participants need to know what the current state of affairs is at the powerful regulator. A regulator in charge of overseeing a multi-billion dollar NYC for-hire transportation market and commercial NYC TLC drivers.
While reports on the previous TLC Chair are concerning, it’s important, we believe, to hear more about the incident, the background and directly from Ms. Heredia Jarmoszuk.
Perhaps a fuller story will come out in the weeks ahead, so we want to refrain from commenting too much on the reported incident for now.
Who Is The Acting NYC TLC Chair?
Ryan Wanttaja, a long-time TLC employee (most recently General Counsel & Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs), has taken on the role of acting NYC TLC Chair & Commissioner. Given his prominent and public position, I have attached his LinkedIn profile below. It appears Mr. Wanttaja is well versed in the NYC TLC industry given his robust experience at the regulator. Whether Mr. Wanttaja remains as TLC Chair in a more permanent capacity is TBD.
NYC TLC History & Three Vacant Commission Board Slots
As you can see from the above summary, the TLC Board SHOULD consist of nine members, of which only one (the Chair) is paid. Based on the latest list of Commissioners only SIX of NINE spots are filled. Since Mayor Eric Adams just took office, perhaps there is a delay in updating the list, but we think this should be made clear to the industry in fairly short order. In addition, given all the recent tumult in the TLC industry we also believe it is time to seriously consider driver and base representatives on the TLC Board (i.e., driver and base representatives from each major NYC for-hire category - Yellow Taxi, Green Taxi, Black Car, Livery, Lux Limo, HVFHV (Uber, Lyft)).
Is It Time For Base & Driver Representatives on the NYC TLC Board?
Right now, the NYC TLC industry is in flux after a highly disruptive period that coincided with the rise of app-based ridehailing companies, such as Uber and Lyft. From the recent yellow cab debt relief deal to the black & livery industries call for an exemption to the FHV License Pause (aka TLC Plate Cap), it might be as good a time as any to redefine how the NYC TLC Board looks.
As recently mentioned in Black Car News, there is a proposed City Council bill that wants to increase the size of the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission Board from 9 to 11! In fact, the proposal is summarized as follows:
“This bill would increase the size of the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) board from nine to eleven commissioners. The two additional commissioners would be required to hold a valid TLC driver license and would be appointed by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the Council.” - NYC Council Bill
This is probably an idea worth considering EVEN MORE NOW with the news of the recent TLC Chair’s resignation. Instead of the current US vs. THEM (i.e., Yellow vs. Uber, regulator vs. driver, etc.) mentality that has arisen within the NYC for-hire transportation community, it’s as good a time as any for this industry to come together to solve the very real issues everyone collectively faces. The only thing we would add is for the legislation to also include NYC TLC base representatives to the Commission’s Board, in addition to NYC TLC drivers.
Let us know what you think? Do you think NYC TLC Driver(s) and/or Base Representative(s) should hold TLC Board Seats? Why or why not? Would there be a conflict of interest? What are the main benefits and downsides in your view?
AutoMarketplace NYC Newsletter is written by Dawood Mian, Founder of AutoMarketplace (launching soon). He covers the NYC for-hire transportation industry and general automotive-mobility news. Check out AutoMarketplace on YouTube ▶️
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