NYTWA submitted a petition to the TLC on May 4th 2011, asking that taxi fares be increased in order to meet the high price of gas and leases.  Taxi drivers have not had a raise since 2004, while the cost of living continues to climb, and they now earn below both the NY state minimum wage for a 12 hr shift and a NYC Living Wage (by 40%). 

Seven years ago, when drivers got their last raise, gas was $1.80 and leases were $600/week.  Today, gas is over $4.15/gallon and the lease is over $850/week.  Meanwhile, 50% of taxi drivers are uninsured - double the rate of their fellow New Yorkers - and no driver is covered under state disability insurance or receives any type of benefits, despite working a job that requires 60-70 hour work weeks.  NYTWA's announcement for a fare raise proposal has already received wide media coverage, including a guest interview on NY1's Inside City Hall and editorial support from the New York Post.  A portion of this raise would go to the industry's first-ever Health and Wellness Fund.

Drivers have nothing but the fare revenue for income; fleets and agents/brokers have medallion equity, ad revenue, a slice of the 5% on all of the drivers' credit card transactions, and a float on the MTA tax which is collected daily/weekly but turned over quarterly, in addition to the ever-increasing lease.  All the while, they pay not one penny for fuel.  This raise is long-overdue for drivers and we won't let it be stolen.

Drivers came out for a press conference marking the 7th anniversary since our last raise.

Additional media coverage

In 2004, Mayor Bloomberg made a ground breaking commitment to a livable income for taxi drivers.  What we seek is rulemaking around the fare and lease caps to bring us back to that standard in light of soaring gas prices and higher leases.  Seven years ago, we made history with a livable income standard.  Today, we seek to break ground with the first-ever Health and Wellness Fund.  We ask for an income and benefits to support and more justly compensate our tireless labor and allow us to meet the demands placed on us.

On behalf of the 15,000 members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, I respectfully submit this proposal for TLC rulemaking:

1. Enact A Fare Increase That Is Divided Between Driver Income, A Health And Wellness Fund And Garage/Agent Revenue
2. Close The Loopholes On Lease Cap Regulations To Prevent Overcharges

Driver Earnings:  The Need for a Livable Income

Taxi drivers currently earn 40% below the NYC living wage standard legislated by the City Council and signed into effect by Mayor Bloomberg.  The earnings are even below NYS minimum wage.  As the majority of full-time drivers average 200 shifts a year (it would be humanly impossible for taxi drivers to keep 60-70 hour work weeks the whole year), their annual incomes are actually far more dismal than even their meager daily incomes suggest.  The third commonly used barometer for evaluating incomes, the Self-Sufficiency Index [1], concludes that a typical household needs to earn a pre-tax annual income of $63,014 (a rate comparable to other transit workers) in order to stay afloat with NYC cost of living.  Drivers currently earn 60% below the Self-Sufficiency Index.

Our projection of driver earnings is based on our work on the industry audit with the TLC. [2] $286 was established as the typical gross booking based on the reading of GPS data.  We together deducted from there the most common expenses.

At $96, driver daily income is 40% below the NYC living wage and 5% below NYS minimum wage.[3]

[3] NYS minimum wage is $7.25 for the first 8 hours and $10.88 per overtime hours.  NYC living wage for an earner without benefits is $11.50 for the first 8 hours and $17.25 per overtime hours.

Driver Debt

Taxi drivers begin everyday at a negative.  The majority of their bookings, 67%, are spent on expenses; with more than half on just lease and fuel.  Drivers take home only 34% of their hard-earned bookings.

Impact of Rising Fuel Prices

Fuel makes up twenty-seven percent of drivers' total daily expenses.

Taxi drivers are paying 50% more today compared to six months ago due to higher gas prices. That is, drivers are paying between $58 to $100 more to gas up every (six-day work) week compared to six months ago. The fleets' opposition to going green has left drivers going broke.  But even the small minority of hybrid operators - mostly DOV's - are taking a hit at today's prices. Meanwhile, unlike airlines, delivery services or even liveries and black cars, yellow cab fares are fixed and regulated by the city and drivers' lease expenses are controlled by the taxi companies.

As fuel prices rise, driver incomes, already below minimum wage, fall deeper into poverty.

Note: The data below compares gas prices from May 2011 to gas prices in November 2010 (six months earlier).  The gap in price is even greater today.

Under the commission system, garages split the meter bookings with the driver.  If the streets were closed, the risk was shared.  If the car broke down, the risk was shared.  If the driver had an accident or was assaulted and injured, the risk was shared.  In today's taxi world, the driver bears all of the risks.  When gas prices climbed sharply post-Hurricane Katrina in 2005, leases were never adjusted.  On some shifts, you barely took home $50 for yourself.  Under commission, the cost of fuel was also shared.  Today, the risks of the street are all on the drivers to bear - whether it is his or her life or livelihood.

NYTWA's fare raise proposal is a modest increase of approximately 15% of the average fare.  We do not propose raising the initial drop but, rather, the mileage and waiting time components to more fairly reflect the cost of the trip.  We also propose a new morning rush hour surcharge on par with the evening rush hour charge.  Day drivers suffer long hours in traffic and are left high and dry when passengers opt to walk mid-gridlock mid-fare, leaving drivers with no way out.  They also are not compensated for the morning rush hour when traffic is at its worst.  Night drivers who labor under more dangerous conditions and through hours more difficult on the body, have not had an increase in the surcharge since it was established in the 80's.  We propose raising the night surcharge.  Our increases in the airport-related rates are to adjust for the metered increases.

NYTWA proposes the following changes to the metered rates:

• Mileage rate of 50 cents every 1/5 mile
• Waiting time of 50 cents per minute

NYTWA proposes the following changes to surcharges:

• A New Morning Rush Hour Surcharge of $1.00 Monday-Friday from 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
• Night Surcharge of $1.00 [everyday, 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.]

NYTWA proposes the following changes to the airport flat rates:

• JFK-Manhattan Flat Rate of $55
• Newark Airport Surcharge of $20

We further propose:

• Both Morning and Evening Rush Hour Surcharges Must Remain in Effect On All Weekdays, including holidays
• All TLC authorized materials must indicate that the first 50 cents of every fare is a NYS tax.

Our fare raise proposal would not increase the initial drop of $2.50 or the $1.00 rush hour surcharge in effect 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays.

The typical ride of three miles with a two minute wait time (60 north-south blocks or 12 east-west blocks) would increase by 15% ($1.70 more) during the evening rush hour (4:00pm - 8:00pm) when over 95% of taxis are in full operation.

The same ride would cost $12.50 during the morning rush hour as well as during late night.  During the remaining hours from 10am to 4pm, the same trip would go down to $11.50.

On rides of three to four passengers, the proposed fare increase would come to 40 cents to 90 cents more per person.

NYC taxi fares are among the lowest in the country.  Especially on cross-town multiple drop-offs during rush hour, drivers bear the burden of time lost to traffic and greater fuel consumption.  On credit card fares, drivers lose five percent on all transactions, including on the customary tip, toll and the MTA tax.  In other words, drivers subsidize a portion of the trip in half of their fares.  Furthermore, compared to other major cities, we do not impose a minimum fare requirement or charge an additional fee for luggage, multiple stops, per head or additional passengers.

• In Chicago: Fuel surcharge of $0.50 when gas prices equal or exceed $2.70, or $1 when prices equal or exceed $3.20 for seven consecutive business days; expires again when gas prices drop below those rates for a period of seven consecutive business days.  Surcharge of $1 for 2^nd passenger (over 12, under 65) and $0.50 for 3^rd, etc.
• In Los Angeles: $15 minimum fare for trips originating at LAX.
• In Oakland: Surcharges for small animals, luggage forcing trunk open, multiple stops, etc. and $5 minimum fare.
• In San Francisco: Trips past city limits or longer than 15 miles have a 50% surcharge, $1 for oversized luggage.
• In Denver: Passenger surcharge of $1 per passenger after the first.

We make this proposal after great consideration and upon review of drivers' incomes and working conditions.  We have structured our numbers to be reasonable and reflective of the cost of the trip.  It has been seven years since the last overall fare increase and without the raise, it is impossible to elevate drivers' incomes to livable standards. Of course, the other half of this equation is the lease cap.  Unless drivers' lease expenses are regulated and enforced, they will not see an increase in income. Riders will instead be paying more just to subsidize taxi fleets whose medallion prices have risen 64% during the past seven years.  Under leasing, corporate medallion owners pass along the risks and expenses onto the driver.  They pay for none of the traditional worker benefits, including contribution to social security or unemployment or disability or healthcare.  We propose that the fare be used to provide drivers with health care and additional basic protections.  Without a fare raise such benefits would be impossible to establish.