Apple Green Boro Taxis Have Provided Nearly 300,000 Rides, and All 6,000 Boro Taxi Permits Available for 2013 Have Now Been Sold
New Website Asks New Yorkers Where Boro Taxi Stands Would Best Serve Their Communities
Mayor Michael R.
Bloomberg, Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky and Mayor’s
Office for People with Disabilities Commissioner Victor Calise today
announced that more than 1,000 of the new Boro Taxis are
now on New York City streets, dramatically increasing the availability
of legal, street hail taxi service to the millions of New Yorkers who
live or work outside of Manhattan’s Central Business District. The apple
green colored Boro Taxis are equipped with
taximeters, roof lights and credit card machines and began operating in
early August, providing nearly 300,000 rides across the five boroughs
since the launch. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has already sold the
first 6,000 Boro Taxi licenses allotted for
the first year, of which 1,200 – or 20 percent – are earmarked only for
use on wheelchair accessible vehicles. An additional 6,000 licenses
will be made available in June of 2014, and 6,000 more will be sold in
2015 for a total of 18,000 licenses issued over
a three year period. The Mayor was
joined by Boro Taxi drivers, industry leaders, and disability advocates
at Cine Magic Riverfront Studios in Williamsburg to celebrate the
milestone.
“Boro Taxis have quickly
proven themselves to be immensely popular, with almost 300,000 rides
having already taken place,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “For decades,
millions of New Yorkers were denied safe and legal taxi
hails in their own neighborhoods – something we believed was wrong and
set out to fix. The new taxis have been a hit with both riders and
drivers, and they will become an increasingly common sight in
communities that previously lacked taxi service.”
“This was a monumental
undertaking,” said Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Yassky. “This effort
required an unprecedented level of communication, cooperation and
coordination with the neighborhood livery companies
who have long served the boroughs, and I am as proud of the process
that brought us to this milestone as I am of the service itself. The
fact that this initiative is helping livery drivers and their families
realize an American dream while they are helping
their neighbors and their communities makes this a win for everyone
involved.”
“People with disabilities
have been waiting for alternative accessible transportation options for a
long time,” said Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
Commissioner Calise. “Now, thanks to the Mayor’s leadership,
the outer borough livery HAIL plan that is putting accessible liveries
on the streets provides just that. We are looking forward to seeing more
accessible taxis and liveries throughout the five boroughs.”
The Boro Taxi plan was
originally announced by Mayor Bloomberg in his January 2011 State of the
City address in Staten Island, and was envisioned as a way of bringing
the same quality hail taxi service that is available
in central Manhattan to other areas throughout the City. Legislation
enabling this new mode of transportation passed both houses of the New
York State Legislature, and was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo
in December 2011. The legislation authorizes
the apple green taxis to pick up passengers by street hail anywhere in
the City outside of the central Manhattan Business District, including
north of West 110th Street and north of East 96th
Street in Manhattan, and with the exception
of John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. In addition to the 6,000
vehicle permits, the legislation authorizes up to 450 permits for bases
of which the vehicles must be affiliated. Due to the dual use of the
Boro Taxis, offering both street hail and pre-arranged
service, these bases will dispatch Boro Taxis for non-metered, flat
fare rides in addition to street hails. There are approximately 130 of
these bases currently in operation.
In just over three months
of operation, the Boro Taxi service has been an enormously popular
service among New Yorkers and visitors. Ridership numbers as of November
8th include:
·
280,455 Trips
·
34 percent of trips paid by credit card
·
885,610 miles driven
·
130 bases with Street Hail Livery Endorsements
In order to solicit
important feedback from passengers, Mayor Bloomberg also announced a new
web site that will encourage New Yorkers to suggest locations in their
communities for new stands where Boro Taxis will
be available for hail. The website - www.BoroTaxis.org
– was designed by the same team that created the successful Bike Share
web site that sought public input for the siting of bicycle docks. The
site allows visitors
to select a location on an interactive map, and then answer questions
about why they believe a stand would be useful in that location, and
when it would be most valuable.
“We are on track to
achieve another record year for tourism, with at least 53 million
visitors expected by year’s end,” said George Fertitta, CEO of NYC &
Company. “The apple green cabs offer our visitors another
convenient way to explore and enjoy the world class attractions,
restaurants, retailers and cultural organizations spread across all of
New York City’s boroughs.”
