Bloomberg's Legal Livery Cab Street Hailing Plan Is Dead

(via Rachel Pincus' flickr)

If you were excited when Mayor Bloomberg announced his plan in January to allow livery cabs to accept street hails in outer boroughs we have bad news for you. Under pressure from taxi owners the city has shelved the idea. But Bloomie and the TLC are still trying to find a way for you to easily, legally, catch a ride outside of Manhattan!

Instead of letting livery cabs legally accept street hails, the TLC is now mulling creating a "a class of yellow cabs that would be prohibited from picking up passengers in most of Manhattan." They would, however, be allowed to pick up fares in other parts of the city.

Still to be determined in the plan is how the medallions in this new class of cabs would work. Currently taxi medallions are worth quite a bit (in fact, they are one of the best financial bets you can make) and the city is considering making the medallions for a second class of outer borough cabs available for a much smaller fee—or even, possibly, for free.

News of the scrapping of the livery plan (and of the possible second class of cabs) came as the City Council yesterday considered raising fines for hacks who refuse service to the outer boroughs. The Council also considered raising fines for livery drivers who pick up street fares.

Still, the mayor's modified outer borough cab plan is a ways off. And with the livery cabs out of the way, hacks can focus on achieving their next goal: getting that fare hike through.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in News on April 28, 2011 1:05 PM

Comments [rss]

Pashri Diaz

What about making it free, and getting rid of all of those cabs that drive by slowly, honking their horns and making my neighbourhood loud.

m015094

I took a livery cab to Scranton once. That was fun.

Jorge Cortes

Too bad, I really wanted meters in Livery cabs. Those guys have a total free for all when setting prices and the bases will back them up because there's no regulation. The law should be simple, if you want to operate a taxi of any kind in the city the fare should be metered.

Charlie Dan

"in fact, they are one of the best financial bets you can make"

Past performance is not indicative of future returns. You do realize that if B'Berg gets what he wants, the value of a taxi medallion would fall drastically, right?

bggb

So let me get this straight: yellow cabbies want the right to refuse fares to outer boroughs, but they simultaneously don't want to let black cabs pick up street fares?

Screw these people. Screw them to DMV hell.

Trustafarian

Exactly - and once they are in the outerboros, they want to get back to Manhattan ASAP and have a shit fit if you hail them and want to go from say....Williamsburg to Park Slope.

The livery guys in my nabe don't really stop if you try to hail them on the street - you gotta call dispatch.

It would suck if they had to have a meter though - typically my rides in livery cars are way cheaper than a comparable ride in a yellow taxi.

nicemarmot

It's too bad. I really would have liked those dudes to have meters. I was trying to hail a cab last weekend in a no-subway area and a black car stopped - wanted $40 for a $10-$15 cab ride and wouldn't bargain down. And three empty cabs passed me while he was stopped and I was telling him to fuck off. Then he wouldn't leave and more empty cabs passed me. I actually had to cross the street to be able to catch a cab without that asshole blocking my way.

Peanut_Butter

Next time, tell him you got 3 letters for him "TLC".

Better yet, get his Car #, because he must belong to a service, and next time, crank call and request his car because you like him, and have him pick you up from Staten Island or somewhere bfn.