Gotham Gazette

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Opinion

Cab Riders Deserve Better


taxi photo

(nyc.gov)


 

Calling for Taxi Trips that are Safer, More Accessible, and with Fewer Impacts on the Environment

The New York City taxicab is woven into the fabric of our city's personality as much as skyscrapers, unbeatable pizza and high-pressure jobs. The iconic yellow cab has been a familiar part of our streetscape for decades, ushering "suits" to meetings, sure, but also students and frazzled parents to school on late mornings; tourists to the Empire State Building; and plenty of us back to Brooklyn many a late night.

Yet despite their established presence, each time I hop into one of the yellow, green, black, or other for-hire vehicles now roaming our neighborhoods, whether flagged, called or "app'd," I'm increasingly unsure what I'm getting myself into. While the evolution, innovation, and expansion of options are welcome, there are essential protective upgrades that must also be made – especially in the Vision Zero Era when NYC has committed to prevent death and injury on our city's streets.

With more than 240 million trips taken each year, the NYC taxicab industry could classify as the seventh largest transit system in the world in and of itself. This colossal scale comes with an equally immense amount of interaction with passengers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers – and, sadly, all too many preventable fatalities and injuries along the way. The distressing number of high profile taxi-related injuries and deaths making headlines lately show a grave need for updates to the regulations responsible for keeping New Yorkers and visitors safe on our streets and in our cabs.

Cab riders have a right to expect that when they enter a city-regulated cab or for-hire vehicle, their ride will be as safe as possible, which is one way we hope the launch of Cab Riders United can make a difference. Cab Riders United intends to serve as a voice for the 1.2 million passengers who ride in the city's cabs and for-hire vehicles each day. Our hope is that the voice of passengers and the public will be heard by Mayor de Blasio's office and the TLC and can help them move forward on key initiatives and regulations to improve the safety, quality and environmental impact of the city's taxicab industry.

New York is a world leader in culture, business, and food – constantly pursuing or pioneering "the next big thing" in nearly every category. The city's innovative policies on reducing tobacco-related death and disease and improving sustainability have been imitated the world over. And, our newer initiatives like paid sick leave and universal pre-K may be similarly replicated in years to come. Today, we should also embrace the opportunity to lead the charge in innovative transportation services, regulations, and technology to ensure safer, better quality cabs and car services with fewer negative impacts on the environment. New York can once again create a model for other cities to follow.

Cab Riders United strongly supports Mayor de Blasio's Vision Zero goal and its guiding principle that death or injury on our city's streets is simply unacceptable. Taxicabs and for-hire vehicles play an important role in New York City and they should be designed and operated with safety in mind. These vehicles should meet or surpass all federal crash and safety standards rather than be exempted from them. How many New Yorkers realize that only one taxi model on the city's streets has been crash-tested with the partition installed to prove its safety? Did you ever realize that the taxi partition we've seen for decades not only changes the vehicle's structural integrity but can prevent the passengers' airbags from deploying? Did you ever notice how often the credit card reader is installed exactly where your face will land in the event of a crash? In the city's emergency rooms, the doctors and nurses are tragically all-too familiar with an injury they call "partition face."

We can do better. Designing taxis inside and out with safety as the top priority; improving seatbelt and child seat regulations; requiring exterior warning lights and sliding doors to reduce the risk to pedestrians and cyclists should all be on the agenda. Not to mention, research shows that higher pay means safer cabbies; and it's simply unconscionable that many drivers working an 11 or 12 hour shift cannot even adjust their seat position to maintain comfort and alertness because of how the partition is installed. With this in mind, we also need to work on improving the training, pay, and working conditions for drivers

In a city where most residents do not own a car, but rely on a driving service when public transportation just won't work - such as returning from a medical appointment, the airport, or in times of emergency - passengers have a right to expect services that are convenient, comfortable and high quality. This includes continuing to expand service in previously underserved communities through the green Boro taxis and other innovative new options like Uber and Lyft, accelerating progress to make taxis accessible for passengers in wheelchairs, and simply a clean and comfortable ride.

Finally, New York is a leader among cities in an ever more urbanized world, and with that comes a responsibility to reduce carbon emissions and show others how a great city can become a greener, cleaner place to live. New York's taxis and for-hire vehicles are vital to the city's transportation system, but we need smart regulations that minimize the vehicles' negative impacts on climate, ambient air quality, and public space while creating a level playing field for fair competition.

As a proud New Yorker, I honestly believe that there is no other city like ours. The yellow taxi is more than a symbol of our city; it's an integral part of the hustle and bustle that makes NYC great. Yellow cabs and for-hire vehicles connect a diverse and dynamic population across neighborhoods, businesses, and cultures to bring people together. And, for generations the industry has created economic opportunity for New Yorkers, especially new immigrants. The taxi and for-hire vehicle industry should continue to do all of these things – but even better, with improved safety, expanded access, greater comfort and convenience, and a reduced impact on the environment.

It's time for New Yorkers and city officials, including Mayor de Blasio and members of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, to take the next steps to make our taxi and for-hire vehicle system one that we all can both rely on and take pride in. The Cab Riders United agenda is fueled by the energy and insights of regular New Yorkers who pay for car transportation and by the expertise of health professionals, academics, transportation policy advocates, and allied leaders from NYC's labor, business and design communities. We invite you to add your voice and join us as we advocate for these three principles: safety, quality service, and reduced environmental impact. Please visit our website, sign our petition and let us know your ideas!

***
Michael O'Loughlin, is a proud New Yorker and campaign organizer for Cab Riders United. He has worked on a number of NYC transportation initiatives to make the city's systems safer and more accessible for residents and visitors.

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@GothamGazette

Do you have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Send it to Executive Editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Breaking New York's Bad Plastic Bag Habit


Kostmayer-Lander-Chin City Hall

The author at a City Hall rally in support of the plastic bag bill (photo: Saleen Shah)


New York City has a bad habit that is expensive and dirty and one that we can break easily and soon.

It's the habit of using plastic bags.

And like most bad habits, we didn't always have it. For the first time in a generation or two, we are seeing reusable bags everywhere. They're even trendy. Consider this: the first plastic bags were introduced in 1977. Now they account for four out of every five bags handed out at grocery stores.

The good news is that American cities are fighting back either with legislation that reduces the use or bans them outright. Bravo to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C. In an editorial, The Seattle Times challenged lawmakers saying it's high time to revisit a statewide ban.

Now the fight comes to the nation's largest city, uniting small business owners, environmentalists, and fiscal conservatives concerned about the cost of shipping trash out of the city, which amounts to an estimated $10 million to move 100,000 tons of plastic bags to landfills.

In September, right after the UN conference on climate change, our city council's sanitation and solid waste committee will hold a hearing on the proposed Lander-Chin bill that seeks to reduce the amount of single-use carryout bags that enter our waste stream.

It's encouraging news that the de Blasio administration is "very supportive" of the bill. For its part, Citizens Committee, in partnership with council members, will be holding cotton canvas bag giveaway events across the city.

How the Bill Works
The proposed bill here in the city calls for a simple 10-cent charge per bag. Who gets to keep the 10 cents per bag? Small retailers, the very folks this bill's opponents (read: the billion dollar plastics industry and its lobbyists) say will be hurt by the bill.

This commonsense approach is bringing people together in every borough and neighborhood. Council Member Brad Lander, one of the co-lead sponsors of the bill, says he believes the legislation is based on "a tried-and-tested...approach to reducing bag waste in New York City by at least 60 percent in a way that works for the environment and works for the city," according to a past Gotham Gazette piece. And Citizens Committee for New York City is just one member of a broad coalition seeking a new plastic bag law in the City Council. Co-sponsors of the bill have worked extremely hard to secure the backing of a few retail and grocery associations, a remarkable feat.

Under the proposed law, restaurants that rely on take-out and food delivery, as well as food stamp recipients, would be exempt. Some street vendors would also be exempt, unless they sell what a grocery store or retailer sells. In New York City alone, just one less grocery bag per person per year would reduce waste by five million pounds and save $250,000 in disposal costs. Also, increased proliferation of reusable bags will have a big impact. A sturdy, reusable bag needs only be used 11 times to have a lower environmental impact than using 11 disposable plastic bags.

Learn and Share
We urge you to learn these simple facts and educate your neighbors so that they can in turn educate their neighbors. After all, we live in a city full of hundreds of neighborhoods and with your support the time will soon come when plastic bag consumption finally trends down.

Plastic Bag Cheat Sheet

  • Plastic bags are made from oil: it takes about 430,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million plastic bags, and the U.S. goes through 380 billion of them a year.
  • Plastic bags are not biodegradable.
  • If buried, plastic bags block the natural flow of oxygen and water through the soil.
  • If burned, plastic bags release dangerous toxins and carcinogens into the air.
  • If simply thrown away, plastic bags clog the waste stream and other waterways.
  • The EPA reports only 5.2 percent of all plastic bags are recycled, meaning the rest find their way to landfills, streets, the ocean, and almost anywhere else they don't belong.
  • Plastic bags pose a serious danger to birds and marine mammals that often mistake them for food. Thousands die each year after swallowing or choking on discarded plastic bags. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean.
  • Department of Sanitation: New Yorkers use 5.2 billion single-use carryout bags per year.
  • Department of Sanitation: As of 2008, plastic bags accounted for over 1,700 tons of residential garbage per week in NYC
  • New York Times: City pays an estimated $10M to transport 100,000 tons of plastic bags to landfills
  • Thin plastic shopping bags jam expensive machinery at recycling plants.

So, let's break the habit and pop the plastic bag bubble once and for all. That'll be great news for all New Yorkers.

***
Peter H. Kostmayer is the CEO of Citizens Committee for New York City and a seven-term U.S. Congressman from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

***
@GothamGazette

Do you have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Send it to Executive Editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Don't Hinder Small Business Growth


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Mayor de Blasio announces the expansion of paid sick leave legislation (Rob Bennett, Mayor's Office)


The following entry is part of The Small Business Corner, a collaboration between Gotham Gazette and GoBizNYC:

A recent piece in The New York Times highlighted how heavy regulations have inhibited growth among businesses in France. When French businesses grow to 50 or more employees, they are subject to a host of employment and accounting regulations that significantly increase their operating and administrative costs. As a result, many companies cap their firm size at 49 employees. With unemployment in France stuck at a record high of above 10% as well as continued private sector contraction, such disincentives to growth do not bode well for the country's worsening economic situation.

We have seen a similar trend here in New York City. According to the Partnership for New York City's NYC Jobs Blueprint, since the financial crisis in 2008, there has been a 7% net increase in the number of firms with one to four employees. Over the same period, however, there has been a 1% net decrease in the number of businesses with 50 or more employees. This indicates that though there is plenty of new entrepreneurial activity, the city's start-ups and small businesses are not able to scale up at a comparable rate.

Given the elaborate web of regulations local businesses must comply with, it is not hard to see why this is the case. For entrepreneurs who have enough on their plate managing all of the day-to-day aspects of their business while competing in the highest-cost city in the country, having to also navigate a complex bureaucratic system not adapted to the needs and pace of a small business presents yet another hurdle to success.

That's why the Small Business First initiative that was recently unveiled by the de Blasio administration is so important and timely. Small Business First aims to make the city more business friendly by simplifying regulatory processes across multiple city agencies and promoting compliance through education. This announcement, along with earlier commitments to reduce revenue generated from small business fines, indicates that this administration is devoting the necessary attention and resources to reforming the systemic complexities small business owners face every day.

At the same time, we must ensure that these gains are not offset by new layers of regulation that add to the already heavy burden on small businesses. For instance, small business owners have been scrambling to understand how to comply with new employer mandates like the Paid Sick Leave Law and are worried that there are more costly and burdensome regulations to come.

A tough regulatory environment has long-term ramifications. The International Monetary Fund has predicted that France's unemployment rate will not show any appreciable decline until 2016 and has warned that the country faces a "negative spiral of low growth and falling inflation."

New York City must learn from France's example and not implement policies that could hinder growth and stall recovery during future economic downturns. Our policymakers and elected officials must work closely with the small business community to ensure that the unintended consequences of any new regulations—in the short- and long-term—are minimized. Only through such collaboration will we be able to cultivate an economy that fosters small business growth and job creation and that remains resilient in tough times.

Victor Wong is the Director of Business Outreach & GoBizNYC at the Partnership for New York City

@GoBizNYC
@GothamGazette

To make or discuss a submission for The Small Business Corner:

Reach GoBizNYC Director Victor Wong at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Reach Gotham Gazette Executive Editor Ben Max at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Small Business Corner is a bi-weekly column featuring the opinions and perspectives of small business owners and advocates from the GoBizNYC network on the range of issues that concern the city's small businesses.

To all New York City small business owners and advocates: we hope this new platform, The Small Business Corner, will better enable you to engage in the local policy conversation and we look to you to support us in this endeavor by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and voices. To learn more about how you can be a part of GoBizNYC and participate in this effort, visit GoBizNYC.org.

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