NEW YORK

New York City should consider allowing yellow cabs to use some of the same strategies as the ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft, including so-called surge pricing when demand is high, a government panel is set to recommend.

If the idea is implemented, New York could become one of the first cities in the United States to allow cabs to raise prices at certain times. It would be a significant change in a city where regular riders can typically predict how much a taxi trip will cost.

The recommendation will be unveiled on Friday as part of a broader plan to rescue the city’s taxi industry from financial crisis, according to a draft obtained by The New York Times.

The biggest element of the plan will be a proposal to create a public-private fund worth as much as $600 million to bail out thousands of drivers who became trapped in exploitative loans while buying medallions, the city-issued permits that let them own their cabs.

The panel was formed after The Times reported that a handful of taxi industry leaders artificially inflated medallion prices and then channeled immigrant buyers into one-sided loans.

 The business practices led to a speculative bubble that burst in late 2014, wiping out the life savings of thousands of drivers and creating a debt crisis that was intensified by new competition from ride-hailing companies.

A decade ago the federal government stepped in to bail out the nation’s biggest banks. Now it may be time to for New York City to bail out its cabbies.

NEW YORK TIMES
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A New York City Council commission released a report Friday recommending a publicly managed fund to bail out thousands of taxi drivers struggling to pay back six-figure and even seven-figure loans they took out to buy the official city taxi medallions that allow them to legally operate a cab in the five boroughs of New York.

Hundreds of cabbies have had to give up their taxis to pay back loans as once-skyscraper-high medallion values have crashed to the curb. Many more are expected to face bankruptcy. Eight drivers have committed suicide in the past two years in what some call a result of the financial strain on New York’s cabbies.


https://tinyurl.com/t99yf78

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WAKEFIELD

A group of taxi drivers are planning strike action over the introduction of a number of new rules for the industry in Wakefield.

The drivers involved say they will stay at home between 6am and 6pm on Monday, February 3 and from 7pm until 9am every day between February 10 and February 17.

The group believes the move will cause disruption, and particularly to the night-time economy, which is more reliant on taxis.

The action is being led by local driver Wajid Ali, who claims around 500 cabbies - around a third of the district's entire fleet - are planning to take part.

The Wakefield and District Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Association (WDPHHA) which represents a large number of drivers and of which Mr Ali is no longer part, is understood to have distanced themselves from the strike.

But Mr Ali said several drivers were aggrieved with a number of new policies introduced by Wakefield Council, which some have suggested will make trading harder.

Among the policies is the introduction of stickers on licensed vehicles and a move designed to encourage taxi drivers to buy expensive electric cars.

The council has defended the way it legislates the industry, saying it has taken action in the name of public safety.


https://tinyurl.com/vv7vylk