A sea of yellow taxis arrived in Albany today, as drivers incensed by the proposed $1 taxi tax to bail out the MTA and build bridges and roads upstate are taking their message to state lawmakers.
The caravan of around 40 cabs circled the Capitol and held a press conference on the east lawn, and drivers met with individual Senators and Assembly members.
Drivers say they have been hit hard by the recession, seeing a dropoff in ridership. They say the $1 will reduce ridership even further, lead to lower tips and deny them their own fare increases.
The surcharge, originally proposed by the state Senate Majority last week, is intended to raise $190 million in new revenue. Those funds would be split down the middle, with $95 million in revenue going to the MTA and the same amount going to finance bond issues that would leverage $1.2 billion for roads and bridges in upstate and on Long Island.
The cab drivers argue that the surcharge would be a regressive tax on the working and middle classes already hard hit by MTA fare hikes and the recession in general.
The rally was joined by Bronx Democratic Assemblymen Peter Rivera, who has proposed an alternate measure that would raise funds through a tax on jet fuel, and Jose Rivera, himself a former taxi driver.
“Driving a cab, in my view, is the more stressful job there is,” said Jose Rivera.
The motorcade was organized by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance and the League of Mutual Taxi Owners, joined in Albany by taxi brokers and owners.
David Pollack, executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, speaks out against the plan to add a $1 surcharge to the cost of every taxi trip within the MTA’s zone of service.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Abie 05.01.09 at 8:15 am
It appears that with all the bickering, all the stories that this is not favored, and all the objections, protests and and so called help from those who are in office that this plan is still very much alive like a cockroach. Read this:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05012009/news/regionalnews/govs_ecret_mta_plan_is_revealed_167090.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/nyregion/01mta.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=taxi%20tax&st=cse
nycabbie 05.01.09 at 1:02 pm
who is the New York Taxi Workers Alliance i’ve been a driver for 2 years never met anybody from this allience never come accross any out reach from these people. how are they paid? are they elected? i find most of there arguments to be pretty weak.
Abie 05.01.09 at 4:57 pm
The Taxi Workers Alliance is the closest thing in this industry to a drivers union. Problem is they don’t have enough teeth to chew and digest their complaints. It’s unfortunate that they lose every battle they fight. This is not meant to be critical. I actually admire their courage,
You can visit their web site. http://www.nytwa.org/index.php
Backbone 05.05.09 at 6:50 am
Yet another battle lost. They somehow persuaded enough senators who was opposed to the plan to vote for it.
All the objections from the taxi industry have been ignored.
Drivers will have to come up with fifty cents for every trip weather the passengers pay it or not.
This means that if you do 30 trips on your shift somehow they will want you to pay an extra $15. If you do 40 trips you will have to pay $20.
And it isn’t over they plan to revisit this for more money later. All for them and none for the drivers and owners.
WHEN WILL THIS INDUSTRY STAND UP AND SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Abie 05.05.09 at 7:32 am
Here are two questions to ponder:
Every two fares will =$1.
Can they ask the drivers to pay $1 when all they get if paid by credit card is 95 cents?
How are the owners or drivers of leased medallions going to be compensated for changing the meters? If they get all the money then they should pay!
winky 05.05.09 at 10:32 am
Well, you can thank the great Matthew Daus for yet again being the pansy that he is by not sticking up for his “drivers” by not protesting this surcharge.
From now on, i will work off the meter, just like the livery cars do, i’m sure my patrons will appreciate it.
Fuck Matthew Daus and the TLC! Totally spineless and nothing more than a cash cow for NYC.
Steven Crowell 05.05.09 at 11:47 am
Scams designed to bilk drivers and/or passengers are pursued by the TLC through increasingly effective (over the last 30 years) coordination… with fleet owners.
The self-serving tactics employed by the TLC are glaringly transparent to anybody with 10 or 20 years experience in urban cab operation.
The TLC’s endeavors to ’shape’ the industry with specific ‘inspection’ hurdles to be cleared, on an arbitrarily designated bureaucratic schedule, for DECADES has been driven by an assumption that TLC responsibilities extend beyond verification of a screening of Vehicle and Driver identification.
HOW drivers conduct themselves is CLEARLY outside the purview of taxi regulation. Independent contractors are not legally obligated to comply with unlawful directives.
The TLC has gotten their ‘come-uppance’ repeatedly over the years, but insists on continually butting into the machinations of the taxi industry no matter how consistantly the courts have ruled against them.
I just wish the recent, effective and enviably successful organizing relied less on pursuing ’social safety nets’ for cab drivers and more on driver self-reliance.
SWC
Mark 05.05.09 at 8:06 pm
Cabbie complaining about the Gas Price, I look at them and think damn what a sad life…