Taxi and Limousine Commission Chair Meera Joshi
At this morning’s 151st CityLaw Breakfast, Taxi and Limousine Commission Chair Meera Joshi spoke on what’s changed and what hasn’t in for-hire vehicles. She acknowledged the biggest change in the industry to be size. The volume of taxis and for-hire vehicles has increased over the years, also increasing the number of daily trips taken in the City. Manhattan sees the largest number of trips.
Commissioner Joshi reflected on TLC’s increasing efforts for taxi safety, accessibility, and regulation of minimum driver earnings. Commissioner Joshi spoke about TLC’s collaboration with Families for Safe Streets, Transportation Alternatives, and the New York City Department of Transportation to produce a video that tell the stories of five families whose lives have been devastated by traffic crashes. The video is being used by driver training programs for taxi and for-hire vehicle drivers.
Commissioner Joshi also announces that the Taxi and Limousine Commission has recently authorized a pilot program that will allow the usage of apps by taxi medallions, which customers will use to hail cabs and receive upfront pricing for their rides.
To watch the complete video, click here.
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Ross Sandler, Center for New York City Law Director
Returning home at 11 p.m. from a charitable fundraiser in a yellow cab on a Thursday night with my wife Alice Sandler, I lost my right glove. It fell to the floor of the cab as I paid the fare, retrieved the receipt, gathered my umbrella and shouldered my briefcase. I discovered that the glove had disappeared when I arrived home. (read more…)
Image credit: Jeff Hopkins/CityLaw
On a daily basis I am reminded that seemingly everyone loves to talk about taxis. Last year between the Daily News, the Post and Times, there were over 2,000 articles mentioning taxis, which transport about a million people a day – yet only about 3,000 articles mentioning subways which transport six-million people a day. Travelers and New Yorkers are clearly disproportionally obsessed with taxis.
Assuming that what people ask me is representative of what’s on the public’s mind, I figure a good place to start is Uber. What is Uber? Is it an app? A technology company? A car service? A transportation network? Is it legal? Is it a noun or a verb? And what is it doing in New York City?
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Meera Joshi, Chair of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, addresses the 119th CityLaw Breakfast. Image credit: CityLand
On Friday, February 20, 2015, the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School hosted a City Law Breakfast featuring Meera Joshi, Chair of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, as the guest speaker.
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Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky. Image Credit: TLC.
Taxi service in Manhattan has taken on a different look the past few years as the ubiquitous Crown Victoria cabs were gradually replaced by a variety of mostly smaller, sleeker and more efficient vehicles. There’s a new color too, green cabs are now popping up in the outer boroughs of the City. Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Yassky has been at the helm of the changing taxi service landscape, and at times it has been a rough ride.
Commissioner Yassky is used to bruising battles. He cut his government teeth working on Capitol Hill for Senator Chuck Schumer on such controversial bills as an assault weapons ban and the violence against women’s act. “You can work for Congress for 30 years and never see anything that you worked on actually become law,” said Yassky, “but if you’re working for someone like Chuck Schumer then you can have a role to play.”
Yassky grew up in Rockville Centre on Long Island. In 2001 he won a seat in the City Council from Brooklyn representing an area that was undergoing extensive re-development and reuse: Williamsburg, Boerum Hill, DUMBO, Greenpoint, and Park Slope. After losing a close race for Comptroller in 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2010 appointed Yassky as TLC Commissioner. Yassky’s biggest priority has been expanding taxi service outside of Manhattan. “For Brooklynites, hailing a cab has meant flagging down an illegal taxi for decades,” said Yassky, referring to black car and livery service, which must be pre-arranged. (read more…)
