Overhaul of dollar van industry proposed

WNYC

From AM-NY:

The City Council is considering three bills that would remake the commuter van industry, officials said during a hearing on Thursday.

The vans often work in transit-starved areas in Brooklyn and Queens. Some work legally, others illegally. Many connect immigrant communities via routes that are quicker and cheaper than taking the subway.

"Commuter vans provide true affordable transportation to New Yorkers, mostly in the outer boroughs, but also in Manhattan," said Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Meera Joshi during the hearing.

"This is especially true in neighborhoods that have less access to public transit, where commuter vans allow passengers to share rides at minimal costs -- as little as two dollars."

For instance, vans connect riders between Manhattan's Chinatown and Flushing in 35 minutes, when it would be a 70-minute subway ride, she said.

Almost 600 vans are working legally in the city.

The proposed City Council legislation includes a study of safety issues in the industry that would suspend new licenses until the analysis was complete -- such as data on safety violations and illegal vans.

Other bills would let vans operate on routes rather than just do prearranged trips, and raise the civil penalties on vans not licensed by the city.

About those scooter cabs...

From WPIX:

There's a new cab service in the city but it may be illegal.

"Motoconcho" is the city's only known Vespa taxi service.

Customers can order a ride through an app, then a message is sent to a Vespa driver – who arrives within minutes.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission says such vehicles cannot be used as cabs and the company's owner may be violating city rules.

Dustin Rodriguez says the Taxi and Limousine licenses only apply for cars not scooters.

As seen previously.

Dollar van legislation introduced

WNYC

From the Queens Chronicle:

The City Council is entertaining a pair of bills that are aimed squarely at operators of illegal “dollar vans” that have become a particular scourge in Southeast Queens.

The Commuter Van Reform Act was introduced Thursday by Councilmen Daneek Miller (D-St. Albans) and Rory Lancman (R-Fresh Meadows).

If adopted, one bill in the package would cause fines for illegally operating a van to skyrocket from the current $500 for a first offense to $3,000; and from $1,000 to $4,000 for second offenses and subsequent offenses within two years.

A second bill would require annual reports from the Taxi and Limousine Commission on the state of the legal and illegal van industries in the city.

In a joint statement issued by his office on Thursday afternoon, Miller said there are only 344 vans and 301 drivers licensed to operate in the city out of 46 bases.

Legal vans are not permitted to pick up fares along city bus routes, and must have special license places and decals.

A visit to the Parsons Boulevard-Archer Avenue bus and subway hub, however, will routinely show vans, usually white, going so far at to park in bus stops in an effort to pick up passengers.

deBlasio shows loyalty to yellow cab campaign contributors

From the NY Times:

The administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose campaign relied heavily on contributions from the yellow cab industry, signaled on Thursday that it would slow the growth of a rival taxi fleet intended to expand street-hail service outside Manhattan.

The new fleet, known as green cabs for their color, was introduced last year under the Bloomberg administration and has proved a popular way for New Yorkers to travel in parts of the city where yellow taxis rarely go.

But the green cabs have been vigorously opposed by the powerful yellow-taxi industry, which stands to face more competition. The industry’s leaders were among Mr. de Blasio’s biggest contributors and fund-raisers in last year’s mayoral race, infusing his campaign with more than $300,000.

The city had been authorized to issue permits for 6,000 additional green cabs beginning in June, adding to the 5,081 already on the streets.

But on Thursday, Mr. de Blasio’s newly installed taxi commissioner, Meera Joshi, said the administration would not issue them until it had pursued a longer process of “stakeholder engagement” on the plan. Ms. Joshi did not give a timeline for when the permits might be issued.

The move is somewhat incongruous with Mr. de Blasio’s trumpeted goal of expanding city services into long-neglected areas outside of Manhattan, leading some to question whether his stance on the green-cab program is motivated by the financial lift given to him by the taxi industry.

And then, just like that, the big D changed his mind.

Seizure of bogus cabs up big time

From the NY Post:

The city has seized a record number of bogus cabs hustling for customers at JFK through a new enforcement base that was launched at the airport this fall.

Since the base opened in October, Taxi and Limousine Commission inspectors have seized 530 illegal cabs — more than five times the number taken in the same period last year.

“JFK is an exceptionally active transportation hub,” said Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky. “And for that reason, it is a magnet for illegal for-hire activity.”

In all, 980 illegal cabs have been taken off the streets since July at JFK and La Guardia airports.

A team of plainclothes inspectors from Squad 15 hits the terminals at around 4 a.m., targeting cabbies who prey on business people arriving on red-eye flights.

How to spot an illegal cab

From WPIX:

Fernando Mateo President Of The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers describes the so-called “epidemic” of the more than 10,000 illegal livery cabs navigating city streets as “unsafe and it’s unacceptable.”

At a Tuesday afternoon news conference in Flatbush, he asked one simple question to the TLC Chairman, “David Yassky why are you not doing your job? That is our question.”

Mateo along with Tony Herbert, President of the National Action Network Brooklyn East Chapter says that on the same week that legal yellow-cab drivers are being targeted in the city, the TLC should additionally zero in on the illegal cabs and their drivers for the safety of the general public. “Protect our rider. Protect the passengers who just want to get home safely,” said Herbert from sidewalk news conference.

The fake livery cars are easy to spot because they sport plates from nearby states where insurance is much cheaper. Another tell tale sign? Their drivers tend to walk away when a PIX 11 news camera is focused on them.

Crackdown on illegal Main Street buses

From the NY Times:

More than two weeks after large buses started competing with vans for passengers traveling between Chinatown and Flushing, Queens, city enforcement officials began a crackdown this week that resulted in the towing of several buses and the levying of fines.

The departure of the big buses was as abrupt and dramatic as their arrival, 18 days ago, which touched off tensions along the commuter van route, including a price war, screaming matches and a smattering of violence.

City officials and the police arrived Thursday at the two main stops – 41st Avenue in Flushing and Division Street in downtown Manhattan – and shut down the operations of the large buses, which were charging $1 for a one-way ride between the Chinatowns in Queens and Manhattan, compared with $2.75 that the smaller vehicles had been charging.

Faced with losing riders, many vans, which typically have less than half of the 57-passenger capacity of the buses, dropped their prices to $1 as well. Other drivers simply stopped operating.

Atlas Park lot used for towed cabs

From the NY Times:

In sleek black sedans and unmarked blue vans, stretch limousines and family-friendly S.U.V.’s, the city’s unlicensed taxi drivers have long thrived on a simple fact: Officials often could not seize their cars because there was no place to put them.

But about three months ago, David S. Yassky, the chairman of New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, received an e-mail from an old acquaintance. The man had heard about the space issue, he said. Would the city like to use his lot in Queens?

The man was Damon Hemmerdinger, a co-president at his family’s real estate company, ATCO Properties and Management, and the son of Dale Hemmerdinger, the former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

After reading an article in The New York Times about the dearth of available tow pound space for unlicensed taxis, Mr. Hemmerdinger agreed to allow the city to use his company’s roughly two-acre lot in Glendale. The city needed to pay only for electricity, lot security, and an occasional cleaning.

By the beginning of June, the lot could hold more than 100 unlicensed taxis at a time. Turnover is typically rapid, as drivers retrieve their vehicles after paying fines and fees that often rise to over $500. Over the last year, the commission added about 60 enforcement agents, bringing its total to over 150. In 2011, 1,737 cars were seized, according to the commission. This year, more than 2,400 cars have been rounded up already.

Vallone wants cab drivers to speak English

From the Queens Gazette:

Councilmember Peter F. Vallone Jr. last week blasted officials at the city Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) for approving a plan to issue street hail permits to livery drivers – including drivers that can’t speak English.

Vallone said he is looking into legislation that would give drivers a grace period, during which they must learn to speak English. Drivers who fail to comply by the end of the grace period could lose their permit.

The TLC last week approved new rules that would allow 18,000 livery drivers to obtain permits to pick up street hails, bypassing car service companies.

The new permits will be sold in groups of 6,000 a year, beginning in June 2012, only to current livery drivers.

Existing TLC rules require drivers of yellow cabs to pass a test showing they can speak English, possess a knowledge of city geography and understand all agency rules, before they are issued a permit.

City to crack down on honking (yeah, right)

Lefrak city drug dealing day care center busted

From the Daily News:

Authorities took down a Queens drug ring that peddled pot, crack and Ecstasy out of a sprawling housing complex and a state-licensed daycare center for children.

Forty-six people ranging in age from 17 to 63 were pinched during a seven-month probe of drug dealing in LeFrak City, one of the nation's largest private housing complexes, Queens prosecutors said Friday.

The daycare center, which caters to children and infants as young as six weeks-old, is located within LeFrak City, home to some 15,000 residents.

"Dealers in this operation are alleged to have hit a new low: selling drugs out of a daycare center where hard-working parents drop off their children in the expectation that they will be shielded from harm - not caught up in it," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Among those nabbed was an inspector for the city Taxi and Limousine Commission. Prosecutors say he unleashed a pit bull on cops when he was caught smoking a joint outside his apartment on 57th Ave. this week.

Undercover investigators made 14 drug buys in the Burke-Arthur Day Care Center, which is licensed to care for as many as a dozen children, ranging from infants to 12 year-olds.

Dollar vans not policed enough

Push to bring back Q79 bus

From the Daily News:

A group of eastern Queens community leaders are hoping a little creative rerouting can restore some bus service along a defunct MTA route.

The Queens Civic Congress is pitching a proposal to alter bus routes adjacent to the former Q79 line to revive at least some public transit options to the area.

Since the Q79 bus line was axed last summer, attempted alternatives in the area have flopped. The Taxi and Limousine Commission launched a pilot program that used commuter vans along Little Neck Parkway but the operator quickly pulled out, citing low ridership.

At a city Department of Transportation meeting last month, City Councilman Jimmy Vacca (D-East Bronx) promised the frustrated civic group that he would review a proposal to alter other routes in the area to fill in service gaps. If the plan is feasible, Vacca said he'd press the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement it.

TLC cracks down on street hails

From the NY Post:

A band of outlaw livery-car firms has racked up a slew of illegal street hails, even amid a city crackdown.

The 10 firms, among the 461 registered with the city, account for 10 percent of all illegal-hail tickets written by Taxi and Limousine Commission agents from April to May, records show.

So far, city officials have written 5,420 summonses in their sting operation, in which they pose as passengers to see whether livery cars respond to street hails.

Leading the worst-offenders list is Bangla Car & Limo Service, which has been hit with 105 summonses. More than half were issued in the last 10 weeks, records show.

Taxi brass say that illegal hails encourage price gouging. The practice also drops the value of yellow-cab medallions.

Taxi of Tomorrow may be illegal

From the NY Times:

The United States attorney’s office in Manhattan has opened an investigation into whether the lack of wheelchair-accessible taxicabs in New York City amounts to a violation of parts of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The investigation, revealed on Monday in letters mailed to city lawyers and owners of taxi medallions, could result in the federal government’s bringing a civil case against the Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates which vehicles can be used as taxicabs.

Taxicab owners are not required by the city to operate vehicles that are accessible to the disabled. The Nissan NV200, the minivan chosen by the city as its exclusive yellow cab for the next decade, will not provide access either.

Federal lawyers are conducting “a thorough evaluation” of whether this complies with the disabilities act, which prohibits local governments, or private groups that provide public transportation services, from discriminating against the disabled, according to the letter sent to medallion owners.

Street hails in Queens to be legal?

From AM-NY:

There could be an additional 6,000 yellow cabs designated solely to pick up street hails in the outer boroughs if the city has its way, Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky said yesterday.

Currently, outer borough passengers can only hail down the rare yellow cabs or prearrange for livery cabs to pick them up.

“If you live in Brooklyn or Queens ... you’re either hailing a car that’s not supposed to pick you up or an unlicensed car,” Yassky told amNewYork yesterday. “Neither one is first rate service.”

Yassky is meeting with state legislators today to discuss the plan, since the sale of additional medallions requires city and state approval.

Cracking down on discrimination by taxi drivers

From the NY Times:

The city is seeing a big rise in complaints about scofflaw cabdrivers who refuse rides based on the passenger’s requested destination, officials said on Thursday.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission said it received 2,341 reports of refusals in the last half of 2010, a 38 percent increase from the same period a year prior, when 1,693 complaints were received.

It is illegal for a yellow cab driver to reject a passenger wishing to travel within the city or certain surrounding areas, but refusals remain a perennial problem. Particularly late at night, when taxis are scarce, many cabbies prefer to stay in Manhattan, where they are more likely to pick up another fare.

David S. Yassky, chairman of the taxi commission and a Brooklyn Heights resident, said he was alarmed by the trend. “A core component of taxi service is that the passenger chooses where to go in the five boroughs,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is getting to be like the bad old days when taxis wouldn’t go to Brooklyn.”

Mr. Yassky and the Bloomberg administration now want to raise the penalties on cabbies who are found to have refused a ride. A proposal floated on Thursday would levy a fine of $500 for first offenders, up from the current $200 penalty. Cabbies could have their licenses revoked if they commit three such infractions in a three-year period.

Hailing a cab may get easier

From the NY Post:

Mayor Bloomberg wants to legalize the widespread — but officially illegal — practice of livery cabbies picking up passengers on the street.

In his State of the City speech tomorrow, the mayor will urge the City Council to toss out the rules that say livery drivers can only pick up fares by pre-arrangement.

According to Taxi and Limousine Commission figures, 97.5 percent of yellow taxi trips originate in Manhattan or at the airports, leaving the 80 percent of the city’s population who live in the outer boroughs to rely on illegal livery pickups.

"And why shouldn’t someone in Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx or Staten Island be able to hail a legal cab on the street?" Bloomberg will say, according to an advance text of his address.

"Whether you’re standing on 42nd Street in Manhattan, or 42nd Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, or 42nd Street in Sunnyside, Queens, you ought to be able to hail a cab."

The TLC acknowledges that yellow taxis almost never cruise outside Manhattan.

Under legislation Bloomberg will propose, livery taxis will be able to accept "street-hails" provided they have meters, credit card readers, GPS locators and have recognizable markings, such as a single uniform color. The city would determine the fare structure, as it does with yellow cabs.

If at first you don't succeed...

From the Daily News:

For the pilot program that replaced axed MTA buses with commuter vans the logic is: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission's deadline is today for applications to place a new operator on the former Q79 bus line.

The notice, posted on the TLC website, is a second attempt at the Group Ride Vehicle Program that puts commuter vans on defunct bus line routes in Queens.

A new van company was needed along the Q79 after the van owner, Vivian Barnes of Alpha Van Lines, terminated service nine months early.

Barnes made the final trip from the Little Neck LIRR station on Dec. 17, citing dismal ridership and daily revenue loses.

The other pilot route, the Q74, was not tapped for a second try.

"We leave it up to the marketplace to see what works and what doesn't," said TLC Commissioner David Yassky.

Yassky said that he heard from "community folks" in the Q79 service area, giving hope that a second attempt might yield different results.

"We had some reason to think there might be interest," he said.

Civic group officials in the area said despite its shortcomings, the pilot program is vital due to limited public transportation options.

Van service not working out as planned

From the Daily News:

FRUSTRATED riders and hamstrung van owners say the pilot program that replaced axed Queens bus lines with private commuter vans is spinning its wheels.

The Group Ride Vehicle Program was introduced last month by the city Taxi and Limousine Commission, allowing Community Transportation Systems Inc. and Alpha Van Lines to take over the discontinued Q74 and Q79 routes, respectively.

Both companies have reported losing money each day due to extremely low ridership - sometimes only 20 passengers in a 12-hour span - forcing them to scale back the frequency of service.

Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky described the service as "spotty" thus far at a Community Board 6 meeting in Kew Gardens last week.

"The agreement with the operators obligates them to maintain a decent frequency of service. It's not clear that they're doing that," Yassky said.

The sporadic service in both areas has irritated many locals who were excited about what the van service could bring to the area.

Jim Trent, 64, a former city employee, was dismayed when he waited more than an hour to be picked up on a recent Sunday afternoon on the old Q79 route.

"I'm annoyed that we don't have the service we were promised. But I feel bad for the [van operators] - you can lose your shirt for this," Trent said.