New Regulations May Cause Uber and Lyft Rides in NYC To Cost More

Yesterday, the New York City council passed a new series of regulations that will protect the taxi drivers and companies and hurt the ride-sharing drivers. This will likely cause higher prices for Uber and Lyft rides and will likely make wait times increase.

New Regulations May Cause Uber and Lyft Rides in NYC to Cost More

NYC Taxis vs Ride-Sharing

In the past few years, ride-sharing has really taken off in big cities that have typically been the territory of the iconic taxi and livery companies that serviced them. In NYC, you have the ever-present yellow cab.

Not too long ago, taxi medallions used to cost as much as $1 million! Many people had taken that plunge because it was thought that driving a taxi would be a sure way to get a sustainable income for many years – and then that medallion could always be sold later to help with retirement.

Now, it is said that the medallions are going for as low as $200,000 – with many drivers still owing way more than that on the medallions they already have. Understandably, the over 13,000 cab drivers and the companies that own many of them in NYC were not happy with the ride-sharing storm that took over.

In contrast to the 13,500 taxis in NYC, the numbers for ride-sharing drivers tops 100,000! On the flip side from the taxi drivers, that means that you have over 100,000 people that now look to Uber and Lyft to help them cover some bills, if not give themselves a full-time job, in the NYC area as well.

The New Regulations in NYC That Affect Uber and Lyft

Well, apparently the cries of the taxi drivers and unions reached the ears of the New York City council as the new regulations they pass come down to this:

• A one year freeze on new licenses for car service drivers
• Minimum pay and fare levels for all drivers

With both of those elements coming into play, this could mean that Uber and Lyft rides in NYC will cost more and that you may be waiting longer for that car to arrive. Many people seemed to be irate about this decision also because NYC still hasn’t addressed many of the issues that plague their transit system.

I think this was an industry that grew so fast that people didn’t really have time to adjust and now cities and even countries are adjusting by passing legislative measures like this. Of course, some will love it and others will hate it but I doubt it will be the final word on the matter. At the very least, this will come back around again in one year…

Source: CBS

Featured image courtesy of Uber