Uber says the city would be in violation of federal law if it adopts proposed rules regulating e-hail companies.
The city's attempt to regulate the rapidly growing for-hire vehicle app market is triggering blowback, both from the disruptors and the disruptees.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission is holding what may well be an emotional public hearing on the proposed rules Thursday, with a vote to follow in the weeks to come. The 40-page proposal was quietly posted online late last month.
Uber claims the new rules, which require smartphone-app operators to apply for approval from the TLC for significant updates to their taxi-hailing software and to give the commission app-enabled devices, violates the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, according to a draft of the San Francisco-based company's testimony, which was obtained by Crain's.
"The TLC’s attempt to intervene in technology and design decisions made by mobile application developers runs afoul of the letter and spirit of the Telecom Act," Uber plans to testify. "For emerging industries like mobile applications, the Telecom Act established a clear policy of deregulation to encourage companies to offer new products in order to promote competition."
Previously, Uber claimed the new rules would require it to purchase mobile devices like iPhones and Apple Watches for the TLC so regulators can test its app, or be fined $500. The company also marshaled technology allies including Facebook and Google to lobby the de Blasio administration to drop the proposal.
Uber plans to stage a rally in front of the TLC's Beaver Street headquarters Thursday morning before the hearing. Hundreds of drivers are expected, the company said.
One of Uber's main rivals, Lyft, also opposes the rule change, but for different reasons. Like Uber, Lyft says the rules would stifle innovation in the app market, but the company known for its pink-mustachioed cars also claims the rules would allow Uber to monopolize the market.
"One of the most glaring problems with the rules is that they would limit drivers to using only the equipment provided by their affiliated base, and one other device for dispatch," Lyft's testimony reads. "The result could be drastic and predictable—a monopoly. Drivers will have no realistic choice between the one dominant app dispatch company and others."
Private-sector groups including the Business Council of New York State and the Manhattan and Brooklyn chambers of commerce have also come out in opposition, echoing Uber's argument that the TLC proposal would hinder technological progress and hurt consumers.
Even industry players who have seen app companies poach their drivers and customers and make them look technologically out-of-date are unsatisfied with the TLC's proposal. The Livery Roundtable, which represents livery base owners, said the proposal would force its members to hire legal representation to ensure compliance and pay $1,000 to the city for the ability to use apps for customers to book rides.
"The idea is good, but the devil is in the details," said Tarek Mallah, founding member of Livery Roundtable. "If the rules are allowed to pass as proposed, small community bases would continue on their current path to the same fate: They may go out of business."
The yellow-cab industry, which has seen the once sky-high value of its medallions plummet in a near-inverse of Uber's rise in popularity, is largely supportive of the rules, but thinks the city should go further in regulating the app market. After all, yellow taxis, long the dominant player on New York's cab-choked streets, have learned to live within the city's hyper-regulated market, and Uber can too, said Michael Woloz, a lobbyist for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents medallion owners.
"I think they're a good start. They demonstrate that this emerging sector needs to be regulated in the same way as the yellow industry," he said of the proposed rules. "But there's probably more that should be done."
A spokesman for the TLC betrayed no frustration at the opposition coming from every angle. "We look forward to hearing and considering constructive feedback from the range of stakeholders at the public hearing," he said.
Some medallion lenders, though, are done waiting for the TLC to bring Uber to heel, opting instead for a time-honored tradition in New York's taxi industry: filing a lawsuit.
Four lenders—Melrose Credit Union, Montauk Credit Union, Progressive Credit Union and LOMTO Federal Credit Union—sued the TLC and the de Blasio administration Wednesday, seeking an injunction ordering the city to enforce the rule prohibiting any vehicle other than a yellow taxi from picking up anyone who has just hailed a ride. Uber, the plaintiffs allege, regularly violates this law by responding to ehails. The lenders also plan to file a federal class-action lawsuit against the city next month.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150528/BLOGS04/150529901
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A TAXI driver was rescued from a burning car by firefighters after a crash in Runcorn.
Police said the collision happened at about 7.50am today on the Central Expressway northbound exit slip to Boston Avenue.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesman said the taxi appeared to have left the road and hit a sign.
The driver was treated at the scene and taken to Whiston Hospital.
The slip road and part of the Central Expressway was shut for about an hour.
An air ambulance also attended.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/local-news/runcorn-taxi-driver-rescued-burning-9337188
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