π Upcoming TLC Meetings Are Critical. Public Forum Shouldn't Be Ignored By NYC TLC Drivers
Upcoming TLC meetings will be the first ones with David Do as Chair. What's on the agenda? From taxi medallion relief to driver pay to TLC Plate Cap(?). Public forum should be used by drivers π€·ββοΈ
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Since being appointed to lead the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) several months ago, David Do has been what we like to call βprivately publicβ. Chair Do has shown up and hosted events and even publicly taken pictures with drivers whoβve been the beneficiary of (Taxi) Medallion Relief Program (MRP). However, the broader TLC community hasnβt directly heard from him in public session.
To be fair and honest, Do has had a very productive beginning to his tenure and his previous experience as the head of Washington D.C.βs taxi regulator is showing. Do is being thoughtful, but also getting things done. We give him full credit for the early successes and are glad to see it.
Tomorrow, at 9:30am, TLC drivers and other industry participants have a chance to participate on a public livestream π₯ with Chair Do. This will be followed by another public TLC meeting next Thursday, October 6th at 10am, which will likely be very well attended given the subject matter - driver pay.
TLC Plate Cap Update?
Itβll also be interesting to see if there is any update on the FHV License Pause (aka TLC Plate Cap) during or ahead of the meeting, as the August report is due to be published any day now. In the agenda for tomorrow, item #2 (see below in section Agenda for September 28th Meeting) is entitled βChairβs Reportβ. We arenβt sure if this refers to the FHV License Pause Determination Report π€.
September 28th Meeting At 9:30am (TOMORROW)
Tomorrowβs meeting will have two general parts to it. One part is much more administrative in nature and relates to approving TLC base applications and renewals (and as discussed above perhaps a discussion of the FHV License Pause π€·ββοΈ). The other general agenda item relates to finalizing rules and financial disclosures around the taxi medallion relief program (often abbreviated as MRP).
The hearing will be livestreamed on TLCβs website www.nyc.gov/tlc. If you still wish to provide comments ahead of tomorrowβs meeting you can submit them here (www.nyc.gov/nycrules) or email tlcrules@tlc.nyc.gov.
Interestingly, when you submit comments online via the NYC rules website a public forum publishes it. You can see that an individual named Surinder Singh has some interesting commentary regarding losing a taxi medallion.
Agenda for September 28th Meeting (TOMORROW)
October 6th Meeting At 10:00am (NEXT THURSDAY)
Weβve written about this meeting a few weeks ago, but will have some more pieces ahead of next weekβs public hearings. For the time being, we encourage drivers and other relevant market participants to use the public forums to register any relevant commentary (which is publicly viewable!). For example, there are no public comments π on the Payment of High Volume FHV Drivers and only two public comments on Taximeter Rate of Fare and Various Surcharges forum. Itβs incredible to us that so few public opinions exist on such a critical matter like driver pay. We urge NYC TLC drivers and other industry participants to publish their thoughts.
The submission deadline for public comments for next weekβs driver pay hearings is Wednesday, October 5th.
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or by emailing us at info@automarketplace.com.
AutoMarketplace.com NYC covers the for-hire transportation industry and automotive news. Check out AutoMarketplace.com on YouTube βΆοΈ