If you were excited when Mayor Bloomberg announced his plan in January to allow livery cabs to accept street hails in outer boroughs we have bad news for you. Under pressure from taxi owners the city has shelved the idea. But Bloomie and the TLC are still trying to find a way for you to easily, legally, catch a ride outside of Manhattan!
Instead of letting livery cabs legally accept street hails, the TLC is now mulling creating a "a class of yellow cabs that would be prohibited from picking up passengers in most of Manhattan." They would, however, be allowed to pick up fares in other parts of the city.
Still to be determined in the plan is how the medallions in this new class of cabs would work. Currently taxi medallions are worth quite a bit (in fact, they are one of the best financial bets you can make) and the city is considering making the medallions for a second class of outer borough cabs available for a much smaller fee—or even, possibly, for free.
News of the scrapping of the livery plan (and of the possible second class of cabs) came as the City Council yesterday considered raising fines for hacks who refuse service to the outer boroughs. The Council also considered raising fines for livery drivers who pick up street fares.
Still, the mayor's modified outer borough cab plan is a ways off. And with the livery cabs out of the way, hacks can focus on achieving their next goal: getting that fare hike through.
