The Taxi & Limousine Commission has injected needless delay into expanding the wildly popular green taxi service for the boroughs and upper Manhattan.
Although the state has cleared 6,000 new green cab permits for as early as June, the TLC says it wants to first carry out “stakeholder engagement” — and won’t issue the permits until late summer at earliest, after Albany signs off on the city’s not-yet-written plan to make more taxis accessible to passengers who use wheelchairs.
As with the 30-cent surcharge the TLC recently approved to open cabs to wheelchair users, the slowdown is a sop to the yellow cab industry, which has fought to protect its monopoly on street-hail service and provided important support to Bill de Blasio’s mayoral campaign.
By every measure, the green cabs are a success. They provide some 50,000 rides each day to borough travelers who would otherwise have a harder time getting around. Moreover, drivers are clamoring to take part. The number of cars in line for permits exceeds the number authorized by the state for this year.
De Blasio should get behind speeding improved taxi service to everyone waiting for it.
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via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1
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