New York City won’t seek Uber cap

That made a recent plan by New York City’s mayor to cap the number of Uber cars on the road at any given time a problem, and after backlash the plan has been temporarily halted.

A previous bill from the New York City Council aimed to put a cap on the number of Uber cars in operation during the study, and while the news will be great for Uber, city officials have said that a cap is still possible further down the line.

Uber now pays neither, but it’s clear city officials want them to start chipping in; a company spokesperson declined to comment.

To reach a deal, Uber agreed to work with the mayor’s administration on a joint transportation study investigating the traffic and environmental effects for-hire companies have on the city. When talks broke down last week, sniping between City Hall and Uber reached a frenzy with the ride-hailing service launching an expensive TV ad campaign that depicted the mayor as too influenced by the yellow taxi industry, which ranks among his biggest donors. It’s estimated that there are now more than 60,000 for-hire vehicles on the road in New York City, with 20,000 being Uber cars.

“The cap legislation now before the city council will be tabled (set aside) throughout the traffic study process”, the mayor’s office said on Wednesday.

Uber is also going to turn over its data – something it was loathe to do – so city officials can study the impact of the business. “This is one of the few growth areas in New York City’s economy, why would you do anything to stifle it?”

The agreement follows a bitter public feud between Uber and the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“De Blasio threw around numbers, such as that Uber is adding cars at a rate of 2,000 a month, strongly implying it is to blame for slowing traffic”. It’s all a powerful reminder that Uber, which is a worth more than 70 percent of the corporate giants on the Fortune 500, and is now fighting similar battle against regulation in nation’s around the world, is a fairly unstoppable juggernaut.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that the government shouldn’t step in to restrict job growth.

First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris said the city would also undertake a sprawling review of the entire auto service industry, with an eye to raising revenue for mass transit services and making improvements for disabled passengers.

Uber launched in New York in 2011.

Advertisement

City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez, chairman of the council’s transportation committee, was a strong supporter of the bill.