8.24.22 - Independent Drivers Guild urges MTA to exempt for-hire vehicles from congestion pricing
' The Independent Drivers Guild is calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to exempt Uber, Lyft and other for-hire vehicles from congestion pricing tolls that could have a potentially devastating impact on drivers’ incomes.
The union, which represents over 80,000 for-hire vehicle drivers in the city, launched a petition Monday urging Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA to spare for-hire vehicle drivers from Central Business District Tolling Program fees that could add up to $23—three times a day—to trips traveling south of 60th Street in Manhattan.
Brendan Sexton, the president of the IDG, points to an environmental assessment that found certain tolling scenarios could reduce demand for for-hire vehicles and taxis by as much as 17%. That could result in a major blow to drivers’ livelihoods and make it harder for those workers, the vast majority of whom are low-income and foreign born, to make ends meet.
“I think the tolls will be a very dark day for the industry with drivers that may not be able to rebound,” said Sexton, who says the average rideshare driver invests roughly $10,000 in licenses, a vehicle, insurance and other expenses before they even pick up a fare. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh it’ll cost thousands of jobs but they can just transition into another industry.’”
An environmental assessment of congestion pricing, which is designed to generate billions in revenue for mass transit upgrades while curbing polluting traffic on Manhattan streets, acknowledges that toll scenarios that would charge for-hire vehicles and taxis more than once per day “would reduce the income of taxi and FHV drivers and this reduction would be large enough that job losses could occur.”
Whatever that fee is—the MTA will vote on a tolling structure after the Traffic Mobility Review Board takes in feedback from six public hearings starting this Thursday—drivers would face an additional charge on top of the existing $2.75 congestion surcharge for for-hire vehicles (and $2.50 for yellow cabs) for cruising south of 96th Street in Manhattan. To date those taxes have generated over $1 billion in revenue since 2019, according to the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.
To help mitigate the extra tolls, the program’s environmental assessment says passengers would be on the hook to foot the bill for those fees. But Sexton argues drivers would ultimately pay for the tolls in lost revenue with passengers likely opting to take fewer rideshare trips to avoid paying the extra charge.
“In the long-term the real economic impact is going to be on the drivers,” he said. '
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