A judge may have shot down Mayor Bloomberg's outer borough taxi plan—potentially losing the city $1.46 billion in revenue according to Hizzoner—but the TLC is at least doing its part to wring every last penny out of its existing taxi fleet. This year a TLC ticket blitz has led to nearly $2.8 million in fines—up from $1.07 million at this point last year. Only a few more hundred million to go!
The crackdown on cabbies came after the TLC added additional enforcement officers in preparation for the planned second fleet of cabs. With 50 extra workers out there, it was easier to focus in on a slew of violations, including operating unlicensed gypsy cabs and livery cabs picking up street hails (which, yup: still illegal). So far this year the TLC has seized 3,270 unlicensed cabs, up from 998 for the same period last year (in June the fine for an unlicensed cab went from $200 to $1,500).
And even with the recent bad news for Bloomberg's plan (which the city says it will appeal) the TLC isn't looking to put on the brakes. They hope to put another 22 officers on the streets in October "with emphasis on the outer boroughs."
"We’ve worked hard to be successful in enforcing against illegal poachers and we’ll keep the pressure on," TLC Commissioner David Yassky said. "It protects public safety as well as the legitimate business people who provide quality taxi and livery service. But it’s also important to send a message to the riding public and urge them to not get into these vehicles that don’t have a TLC license."
