Experts agree: a cap on Uber won’t fix street congestion in NYC

“In reality, this cap would do little on its own to reduce congestion or improve the lives of drivers…If anything, it could encourage some drivers to spend even more time in Manhattan where they are more likely to get fares and less time in mass transit-starved parts of the city.” – The New York Times

“As the City Council rushes to freeze the growth of Uber and other for-hire vehicles, no less than the Rev. Al Sharpton is raising an inconvenient truth: It’s a hit on minorities and the poor…Plus, the case for the cap is weak. Any slowdown in traffic may have more to do with Mayor de Blasio’s lower speed limits, bike lanes, pedestrian plazas, construction projects and traffic other than Uber & Co.” – New York Post

“Now, a proposal by the City Council to place a one-year freeze on for-hire vehicle licenses is being opposed as a civil rights issue by organizations such as the National Urban League, the National Action Network and the N.A.A.C.P.” – New York Times

“The City Council should table the Uber and Lyft cap and direct the TLC to implement the earnings standard for app-based drivers as quickly as possible. The Council should also pass a home-rule resolution calling on the legislature to enact comprehensive congestion pricing in early 2019. – Charles Komanoff for Streetsblog

“A cap, though, is a last-resort blunt instrument. Used properly, the driver-income rules can and should make the apps themselves find the equilibrium on the number of cars, while also setting the right balance between Manhattan and borough services. And instead of setting a single number, we’d rather find ways to shoo Ubers away from Manhattan and urge them to cruise outside it. The best way to make that happen is pedal-to-the-metal congestion pricing, a necessary idea that Albany must deliver on.” – New York Daily News