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The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) has approved a taxi fare hike of 17 percent, which goes into effect today. The fare hike is the TLC’s first such increase in eight years, according to Gothamist.

(by Alissa Fleck)

The current fare rate is 40 cents for every fifth of a mile or minute stuck in traffic, but the hike will increase that rate to 50 cents. Gothamist reports the TLC anticipates fares will rise from $10 for the average fare to $12. Airport transit fees will also increase.

There is a small, temporary loophole in the new regulation, as cabbies are not required to make the changes until September 30. While it’s hard to believe there will be many holdouts, for a few weeks it will be possible to snag the occasional taxi for the old, reduced price, reports Gothamist. 

This change follows a July hearing, in which disgruntled cabbies reported walking away with meager earnings—$130, or less, for a 12 hour shift—and pointed to rises in gas prices and other services. According to the news blog, cab drivers reportedly make 24 percent less than they did in 2006. Many cab drivers believe the fare hike should be even higher.

Gothamist outlines the new fare prices and regulations. 

Thanks to the city’s “owner must drive” rule, he can’t lease out the medallion to other drivers, potentially robbing him of steady income in his golden years.

“I shouldn’t have to rely on my kids,” he said. “I want to be able to lease my medallion so me and my wife live happily ever after.”

The city Taxi and Limousine Commission contends the “owner must drive” rule keeps alive the dream of individual medallion ownership. But Tuncel and other taxi owners say that the regulation is akin to slavery. They found a champion in one Manhattan city council member, who has taken up their cause over the objections of the commission.

“These are people that have worked hard and long for these medallions and I think we should be sensitive,” said the bill’s author, Upper East Side City Council Member Jessica Lappin.
Lappin’s bill would waive the owner-must-drive rule for any military veterans who have served in times of war, spouses of deceased medallion owners who inherit the medallions and drivers age 62 or older who have driven for at least 10 years.

She has the support of several taxi drivers associations.

“Most people don’t appreciate what it’s like driving a cab,” said Steven Bulatowicz, operations manager of the League of Municipal Taxi Owners. “You’re out there five or six days a week for 12 hours per day. It’s hard. It’s grueling, grueling work and it takes a toll.”

The rule doesn’t apply to individual medallion owners who have owned their medallions continuously since before 1990, when the rule went into effect.

Some of the grandfathered-in individual drivers have leased their medallions to leasing agents. The leasing agents make a small profit off managing the leases.

David Yassky, a former City Council member and current chair of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, said at a recent City Council Transportation Committee hearing that eliminating the owner-must-drive rule would limit the supply of individual medallions and put them in the hands of leasing agents who don’t drive their own taxis.

“We believe very passionately that the owner-driver segment is worth preserving, and we don’t want any rule that will make them disappear,” Yassky said.

About 40 percent of the city’s medallions are for individuals. The rest are corporate medallions, which are bought by companies for fleets.

Tuncel bought his medallion for a little more than $200,000. Medallions now go for about $700,000.
While it appears that Tuncel is in line to make a killing off his investment, he said that’s not the case. He has refinanced the loan on the medallion to replace his vehicles—he needs another new car to replace his 2006 Toyota Sienna in August—and to put his two kids through Dowling College. He now owes more on his loan than he did when he bought the medallion.

By age 62, he will have driven for 25 years. He believes he has put in enough time behind the wheel.

“If God lets me get to age 62, I want the option to be there,” Tuncel said.