The proposal to establish a new category of livery cars that would be permitted to make on-street pickups outside of Manhattan has been rejected because of opposition by yellow cab owners and drivers and a lack of support from elected officials. The plan now being floated would create a class of yellow cabs that wouldn't be allowed to pick up passengers in most of Manhattan but could make pickups elsewhere in the city.
In the meantime,
- the Taxi and Limousine Commission has been issuing more fines to livery car drivers who are illegally making on-street pickups,
- the New York Taxi Workers Alliance is petitioning the city for a fare increase because of increases in gas prices and the cost of leasing a cab, and
- more drivers are refusing to drive passengers from Manhattan to Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens because they usually end up driving back into Manhattan with an empty cab and don't make any money during that drive.