New York City May Cap the Number of Uber, Lyft Vehicles On Its Streets (engadget.com)

New York City may become the first major U.S. city to cap the number of Uber and other ride-sharing vehicles on the road. According to Engadget, "The City Council is looking at proposed legislation that would largely freeze the issuance of ridesharing vehicle licenses while officials work on a year-long study of the cars' effects." Wheelchair-accessible vehicles would be exempt from any cap. From the report: This wouldn't be the first time the city tried a cap -- it abandoned an attempt in 2015. There's greater pressure to consider a limit this time, though. NYC now has over 100,000 ride-hailing cars (up from 63,000 back in 2015), and a string of suicides by both ridesharing and taxi drivers has raised questions about working conditions that can include low pay, long hours and poor compensation for time off. On top of the cap, the Council is looking at raising minimum pay and otherwise regulating on-demand transportation services. NYC is concerned that the growth of ridesharing is coming at the expense of drivers' well-being (regardless of who they work for), and it's unlikely to back down until it's satisfied these workers are receiving fair treatment. Uber argues the cap would "leave New Yorkers stranded" without solving issues like congestion, taxi medallion ownership and mass transit. It claimed it would hinder passengers who live outside of Manhattan and don't have reliable alternatives to cabs or public transportation. The company even posted a commercial underscoring how difficult it was for some residents to hail taxis.

Comments

Re:Let Adam Smith decide?

[AHuxley]

The risk was that a city had to keep going back to the consequences. Police and courts seeing the same problems again.

Ensure the service has good working equipment.
The way to measure the amount to pay was set and could not be tampered with.
Police knew of staff and that staff could be trusted with all the different people who would use the service.
That the person who was approved to drive knew the city to a good level. Was able to welcome a tourist. Provide a service for any travel distance needed.
For that level of service and having to accept any distance traveled a city would ensure an approved company was able to be a going concern.
Safe, a set fee, police aware of any problems. People could then use the service 24/7 in a city with confidence.