We will now be taken to the car twice.
Taxi riders in the Big Apple have been quietly paying congestion charges for years, but the Post has learned that new charges are about to be imposed when a full fare plan goes into effect this summer.
The double-barrel cash grab could increase the price of many rides by $5 or more, leaving drivers worried that their income will plummet.
“What they introduced years ago is bad for business. It’s only going to get worse from now on,” said Destiny Maduka, a father of two who has been hacking for 22 years. .
“This thing they added is going to kill us.”
Since 2019, every yellow cab ride has been subject to a $2.50 congestion fee, while trips using app-based car services such as Uber and Lyft have been subject to a $2.75 fee.
This fee applies to non-shared trips that begin, end, or pass through south of 96th Street in Manhattan.
The final stage of the current controversial new congestion pricing plan will see an additional $1.25 surcharge for traditional taxis and $2.50 for app-based rides.
This could bring the total cost of a ride departing from or through affected areas of Manhattan to $5.25.
The latest phase of congestion pricing is expected to begin by mid-June and will impose hotly debated tolls on all cars entering below 60th Street in Manhattan during daylight hours. A $15 price increase will be officially imposed.
Taxis will not have to pay the $15 fare, but passengers will be responsible for a smaller double-barrel ride fee for rides that pass through designated zones, an MTA spokesperson said in a Friday post. told the paper.
Drivers say the multi-tiered fares will be tough for an industry that is finding its footing post-pandemic.
Maduka said the increased pressure “makes me want to run away from New York.”
“New York isn’t for people like us anymore,” he said with a laugh.
Another taxi driver, Abdul Isaiah, said he was still feeling the effects of the 2019 premium.
“I lost customers and never got them back. To this day, customers talk about it because they feel the same way,” says the married father of four. one father told the Post.
“We heard they were going to enforce another order, but we’re still complaining about the previous order. We didn’t think it was right then, and we don’t think it’s right now.”
Most Uber drivers contacted by the Post on Friday declined to comment, but one driver, who did not want to be named, said the increased pressure on his bottom line was difficult to bear.
“In general we already don’t make as much money and it’s going to be bad for Uber drivers. There will be fewer passengers,” the driver said.
Despite the fees, ride-hailing giant Uber unabashedly supported the Big Apple’s congestion pricing proposal.
“Congestion that slows travel times and frustrates passengers and drivers is bad for business. In fact, our top cities are those where strong public transportation options are the backbone of the daily commute.” Uber wrote in the article. Company blog post last year.
The MTA told the Post on Friday that current taxi fares raise a lot of money for the agency, which is spent on improving public transportation.
The fees raised nearly $1.5 billion from 2019 to 2023 to support the MTA’s subway action plan and suburban rail service.
The New York State Legislature signed the Congestion Pricing Plan in 2019, which provides $1 billion a year to fund improvements to the city’s public transit system to better serve about 4 million passengers a day. required to raise dollars.
