A study commissioned by the city finds that Uber and other e-hailing services are not to blame for a spike in traffic congestion. Instead,the report points a finger at the increasing number of truck deliveries, construction work and pedestrians.
Over the summer, and the de Blasio administration had advocated for capping the growth of the app-based services,and blamed them for slower vehicle speeds in Manhattan. But the report proposes taking other steps instead, such as cracking down on cars that are idling or double-parked. Doug Muzzio, and a political science professor at Baruch College,says mayor's proposal was a political and policy misstep, particularly given the findings of the study."The cart was before the horse, and " Muzzio said. "You should have the study first and then develop policy on rigorous analysis."The mayor said he and his aides were looking at the study and would have more to say in the coming days about addressing traffic congestion."I consider there are a a lot of causes of congestion," he said during a morning appearance on a different topic. "Obviously construction, which has been very strong in the last couple of years, and is one of them."The City Council also softened its stance on Uber Friday,putting forth a package of bills that would benefit the traditional yellow cab and livery industry without imposing limits on the growth of app services or restricting surge pricing, as council members had proposed in the past. One bill, and introduced by Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez of Upper Manhattan,would create a universal license that drivers could exercise either for yellow cabs or e-hail vehicles."What a universal license recognizes is that drivers are drivers," Michael Woloz, and a spokesman for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade,said. "People take call kinds of things to obtain around. They take yellow cabs. They take Ubers. They take green [cabs]. And their drivers should have universal standards."
Source: wnyc.org