Uber, Lyft face New York vote that may impose cap
The New York City Council is set to vote on whether to impose a one-year cap on new licenses for Uber and other ride-sharing vehicles.
The proposed bill will be the first of its kind in a major American city to set a limit on ride-hailing vehicles.
“This is the one reliable form of transportation particularly for my friends in the Bronx and Queens and remote parts in Brooklyn and we’re taking this away,” Wall Street Journal editorial page writer Jillian Melchior told FOX Business’ Adam Shapiro on Tuesday.
The bill is an attempt to increase work for taxi drivers and reduce traffic congestion in the Big Apple.
GOP communications strategist Lee Carter said the ride-sharing cap campaign is less about driver wages and has more to do with congestion on the streets of New York.
“I think this is about a lot of people saying we’ve got a congestion problem and we need to take a pause here,” she said.
According to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, there are 14,088 Uber drivers versus 13,587 taxi drivers in the city.
“The roads can’t support it, our infrastructure can’t support. The salaries are not paying for themselves,” Carter said on “Making Money with Charles Payne.”
Ride-hailing companies have offered to create a $100 million fund in place of the cap.
“I think what we are looking at right now is basically city council looking at one group, 13,000 taxi drivers that want an effective monopoly,” Melchior said.
The city council is set to vote on Wednesday to place a cap on ride-sharing services.