🤷♀️ WHAT HAPPENED?
NYC TLC's communication on releasing 600 *NEW* EV FHV Licenses (a/k/a TLC Plates) was good until a disastrous implementation. "Interest" form was active for less than 5 minutes, leaving many confused
As expected, the Taxi & Limousine Commission opened a “Statement of Interest” form for *NEW* EV TLC Plates (“First Come, First Served”) on Wednesday at 10am
The form was inactive within minutes as a, previously undisclosed, preset submission quota (2,500) was reached
As mentioned by AM, TLC’s “First Come, First Served” protocol was a flawed idea to begin with, regardless of execution success
AM understands it’s hard to undo process now, but believes TLC should URGENTLY reconsider second EV Plate allocation process, ahead of Wednesday, March 29th
As expected, the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) opened a “Statement of Interest” form, exclusively for individual TLC drivers, related to new EV FHV Licenses (a/k/a TLC Plates) on a “First Come, First Served” basis, yesterday, Wednesday, March 15th at 10am.
Last week, we wrote the following:
We urge the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission to amend the online “Statement of Interest” submission process ahead of next Wednesdays [15th] online form going “live” & create a mechanism that prioritizes need + merit vs. how quickly one can access a site and click a button.
To be fair, it wasn’t only us, other NYC TLC drivers and advocacy groups were bringing up the exact same point. It was easy to predict the “How quick can you click?” 🖱️process wasn’t going to be popular EVEN if executed to perfection. Having bad implementation, on top of a flawed idea, was the recipe for a disaster - this is what happened Wednesday.
As our team reported live on the situation, we saw the initial form being accessible, but within minutes the form going offline 👇. This was confirmed independently by many TLC drivers who reached out to us on public media (newsletter forums, YouTube) and privately.
Below, is a screengrab our team captured at 10:05am.
To underscore how badly the process was executed, the TLC’s own industrywide email, announcing the form being available, was received by many after 10:10am, a full 5 minutes (if not more) after the form was no longer accessible! 🤔 .
Furthermore, the TLC seems to think 25,000 unique visitors was a lot or a surprise.
What about that figure is surprising?
This is New York City 🗽🍎🌆, there are over 150,000 active TLC Licensees. The 25,000 figure actually matches up with our estimate of how many active NYC TLC drivers are in leasing arrangements (i.e., ~70% are owner-operators).
Being Constructive
Let’s make one thing clear before we continue. We believe there are two categories of people that are upset about this process.
Those who wanted a TLC Plate & are upset they didn’t get one
Those who feel the the process was poorly constructed & unfair
We are clearly in camp #2. Obviously, there are people who wanted a TLC Plate, but didn’t get an allocation yesterday. That’s not what this is about. In addition, we congratulate 🥳 those who did manage to get an allocation, or a place on the waitlist!
As much as we think the above process should have been different, it would be unfair of us to question already given allocations. In our view, whoever received a confirmed allocation has the right to keep it, that process CANNOT BE UNDONE now.
So, what can be done?
Below, we are going to make some brief points for the TLC to consider ahead of the Wednesday, March 29th allocation process for the 400 remaining EV TLC Plates.
➗ Split The Remaining 400 Plate Allocation. 200 ONLY for individual qualified drivers (same as yesterday) & 200 ONLY for Business Entities
Clearly, individual TLC driver demand should be given priority, given the demonstrated demand
Individuals shouldn’t be competing with businesses in a “First Come, First Served” submission process that allows up to a 25 allocation per entity (i.e, 16 entities can claim the entire allocation)
🧑 200 EV TLC Plates For Individuals Should Have 120 Day EV Requirement
The 30 day EV requirement for the *newly proposed* 200 individual driver allocation should be similar to the initial 600 allocation requirements, as it relates to the vehicle
🎲 Individual “Statement of Interest” form should not close based on a quota (i.e., 2,500). ALL QUALIFIED DRIVERS should be given an application ID post submission & TLC should conduct a public lottery (i.e., random selection), based on that ID
Surely, creating a protocol based on “How quick can you click?” 🖱️needs to be abandoned given underlying demand
🏢 200 EV TLC Plates For Business Entities Should Be Auctioned
We’ve outlined our reasoning for this, but it’s also unfair to subject businesses to “How quick can you click?”🖱️.
For example, if Revel legitimately got an allocation they will be subject to accusations OR if they don’t get any allocation that also doesn’t make sense given how much money they’ve invested in building out EV infrastructure in NYC
Closing Thoughts
There was, very recently, some welcome news around NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission Chair David Do qualifying for a NYC TLC Drivers License. He wants to experience what it is like to be a City for-hire driver. This isn’t meant to be taken in a nasty way, but rather it is said constructively.
Chair Do, respectfully, if you were subject to the process so many NYC TLC drivers were subject to on Wednesday, how would you feel about the 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.
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 ▶️
I agree with your points myself over 20 years veteran renting out broken down cars 1600 monthly never got the opportunity to submit the form very unfair i cant understand how theTLC thought this was a fair process and even with all the negative feedback from weds are still continuing with the same platform
Application Period for 400 Electric Vehicle (EV) Licenses
The 30-day requirement in order to purchase and register an Electric Vehicle should be increased to 120 like the application on march 15. The justification for this is that Tesla (largest ev maker in the world) dealerships in the tristate area currently estimate that orders placed today may not arrive until July due to a surge in demand from the federal ev tax credits. This on top of the surge in demand from the ev license mandate will only serve to push back the availability of vehicles even further which will cause drivers who are eligible for the ev restricted plate to be unable to purchase a vehicle within the required 30 days.