A report released recently by the city council proposed an additional tribute to Uber and Lyft drivers.
Charles Comanoff, the transportation expert tasked with drafting this report, believes that if Uber and Lyft cars travel without passengers in Manhattan, south of 96th Street, their owners should pay 11 cents each. a minute during peak hours and 5.5 cents a minute the rest of the time.
All this is done ostensibly in the name of unloading traffic flows. But no one denies the materialistic motive. Comanoff acknowledges that when car traffic reaches pre-coronavirus levels, his proposed measure will bring the city $ 80 million. “This will be the icing on the cake,” the author of the report says enthusiastically.
Uber and Lyft drivers are already paying $ 2.75 to enter Manhattan’s CBD. However, in the end, this mark-up is transferred to the passenger.
Comanoff argues that the new empty-ride expense should be included in the overall pricing structure, rather than appear separately.
Before the pandemic, according to the Taxi & Limousine Commission, the idle mileage of Uber and Lyft cars in Manhattan reached 40%. And this is not surprising, since the very concept of the work of companies of this type presupposes the constant availability of free cars that can quickly respond to a passenger’s call.
In 2019, city regulators tried to limit how long cars could run without passengers on some streets in Manhattan. But the Manhattan Supreme Court thwarted these attempts.
The new initiative of the City Council is clearly related to the revitalization of the plan to introduce toll entry into Manhattan. Its implementation has been suspended due to the pandemic. In addition, the plan did not receive support from the federal government. But now the situation has changed, and fees for rides below 96th Street may soon become a reality.
Newspaper headline:
Uber and Lyft surcharge