Council wants more taxi stands

Several City Councilmembers hope to install yellow cabstands in the outer boroughs - even though the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) has shot down the plan.
“The current system does not satisfy public need,” testified Councilmember John Liu before the Council’s Transportation Committee. Liu called for the establishment of 10 stands at major transportation hubs in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx.
Originally, Liu wanted two stands in each borough, but the revised bill calls for stand locations to be chosen based on demand later on. If approved by the Transportation Committee, the plan will go to a full vote in the Council.
Liu pointed to the taxi stand at Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing as a successful stand outside of Manhattan. Nevertheless, TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus called the Flushing stand unusual because taxi drivers are given special incentives like “shortie-tickets” that allow the cabs to cut the line for passengers at the airport.
In addition, the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which runs the stand, initially organized a reduction in lease payments for drivers during the first few years of operation. At the hearing, Daus said that only eight percent of fares ask to be taken to the outer boroughs and local airports.
“When there’s an ocean of water to drink in Manhattan, why would they go for a puddle in the outer reaches of the city?” Daus said, according to published reports.
However, Liu countered that residents of the outer boroughs opt for gypsy cabs when they cannot hail one of the 13,000 yellow cabs and 27,000 car-service vehicles licensed by the TLC.
The reality is that people are already getting the service, but doing so illegally and without the safeguards built into the yellow taxicab fleet,” Liu said.
Currently, the handful of official taxi stands in the city are operated by independent agencies, and under the new bill, the TLC would run new stands in the outer boroughs.
Liu suggested that profits from the most recent medallion taxi sale in July 2006 - which netted an extra $76 million – should be used to help pay for the $5 million project. However, the money generated by the medallion sale goes into the overall City budget.