Albany, NY – The State Legislature voted on Friday to vastly expand the reach of regulated, metered taxi service in New York City, a move that would create a class of livery cabs that can be hailed legally on the street outside the busiest parts of Manhattan.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The approval of the plan, which would revolutionize the taxi industry and potentially change the travel habits of millions, represented a significant legislative victory for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose administration had struggled through months of fractious negotiations and had all but given up on the plan as recently as last week.
The bill’s success was also a rare defeat for the yellow taxi lobby, a group of wealthy fleet owners who have wielded immense political power for decades and have usually succeeded at resisting changes to their industry.
The Senate approved the bill late Friday by a 40-to-21 vote. The bill passed the Assembly earlier this week. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has not said whether he will sign it into law.
The Bloomberg plan would issue up to 30,000 permits, for $1,500 apiece, for a new type of livery cab that would have the usual trappings of a yellow taxi: meter, rate card, roof light, credit card machine and a GPS device to track trips.
These liveries would be painted a different color to help passengers distinguish them from other vehicles. And they would be allowed to pick up street hails in the traditionally underserved parts of Manhattan, north of East 96th Street and West 110th Street, along with all other parts of the city, except for the airports.
If approved by the governor, the plan would quite likely face a legal challenge from the taxi industry, portions of which bitterly opposed the bill since it was first proposed in January in the mayor’s State of the City address. Owners and some drivers feared they would lose business to the new competition; fleet owners and other powerful industry players believed their medallions, some of which are worth up to $1 million, could lose value.
The new type of liveries would be banned from making pickups in places like Midtown and the financial district, but some industry experts expressed concern on Friday that stopping those rides would be dependent on a robust enforcement effort.