Larson Proposal Hnrs 226

Taxi/Uber/Lyft (T.U.L.) Dilemma

Leah, Melissa, Kimberly, Jennifer, Shifali

 

We are focusing on the conflict that occurs between rideshare drivers and those who employ them, namely the big name corporations and the city.  Moreover, this problem seems to escalate as the competition between rideshare and taxi drivers increases. In fact, the worth of the taxi medallion has decreased by one-fifth in the past four years due to its competition with companies like Uber and Lyft. “In 2013, some medallions sold for more than $1.3 million” (Furfaro, para. 3). Taxi drivers are not protected nor aided by the city during their struggles to attract customers, even though they’re a growing competition for this particular transportation service. However, the Uber corporation is known to poorly treat their drivers by not giving them many benefits, taking 35% of their profit, refusing to report criminal offenses, and not carrying out proper background checks on drivers. New York City taxes taxi drivers for accepting customers off of the street, which is obviously an impediment for the drivers in earning enough income, since uber and lyft drivers are not constrained by this rule. New York City is not the first location to be facing these issues.  In Rio de Janeiro and Rome, the government banned ride-hailing companies to protect the taxi employees. Furthermore, London refused to renew Uber’s licence due to a “lack of corporate responsibility” (Butler and Topham, para. 11). We are elaborating on this issue by:

• Seeing how the courts responded to taxi drivers suing the city for not protecting medallion owners

https://nypost.com/2017/12/06/judge-tosses-taxi-medallion-owners-case-to-the-curb/

• Is the city responsible for protecting the taxi drivers, as they are the ones who are employing these taxi drivers?

 

Thus our questions stands.  How is New York City addressing the competition between taxi businesses and ride-hailing apps, and how is it affecting the drivers?  

 

Our plan of action is:

 

Leah and Shifali will research effects of competition on the corporations themselves, as well as their drivers.  For example, there has been three suicides by taxi drivers in the last two months due to the rising competition and its resulting depletion of clients (Furfaro).  Additionally, ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft have been paying their employees subpar wages with little to no benefits.

• http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cabbies-rally-city-hall-suicides-drivers-article-1.3815948
• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/opinion/taxi-drivers.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=16F91074C2FDB08ADC94868307BA355C&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion

 

Melissa will research how the municipal government runs taxi businesses, and what their responsibilities to medallion owners are legally. (ex: what kind of background checks the city runs, limitations on where taxi drivers could pick up hailers, etc.)

 

Jennifer will research comparison between taxi and uber, and which one people prefer and why.

 

Kimberly will research policies that NYC has done to help its taxi drivers and what they could do in the future (which has already been done by other countries and cities) (ex. Taxi drivers suing the city is an example of the lack of action taken by NYC)

 

Feedback:

• Intersection between Uber drivers and taxi drivers (they do actually take up jobs from both to make higher wages)
• Legality of using taxi cars while being an uber driver
• Ethnic enclave – taxi drivers had been majority specific ethnic groups (South Asians) taxi conflicts starts affecting a whole ethnic community
• What are the social and economic ramifications of this, not upfront but a certain layers deeper?