Given the rising disputes with the online ride-booking service, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to limit Uber’s growth as soon as possible. To implement severe restrictions on Uber reducing its expansion to 1% in the coming year to allow time to study the impact of the car service on traffic and pollution; it is likely that the New York City Council could vote in favour of it.
During a press conference regarding the heat wave troubling New York, de Blasio was drowned in questions about Uber which has taken him on an aggressive ad campaign on television and by email. The Democratic Mayor feels the legislation is appropriate and should be voted on as soon as possible.
Uber, based in California, holds a network of 20,000 vehicles in New York, surpassing the city’s 13,587 iconic yellow cabs. According to the company, the Mayor wants to destroy and deprive taxi-starved city boroughs outside Manhattan of a vital service, allegedly. Uber also believes that the Taxi industry makes big political contributions which are influencing the mayor to suppress Uber’s growth.
The New York Times, New York Post, and the Daily News have also criticized the proposed legislation. The bill that would temporarily limit the number of new for-hire vehicle licenses the city can issue while it completes a study on the effect of taxicabs and for-hire vehicles. The Mayor has also rejected Uber’s calls to have a live debate about their differences Monday, saying he doesn’t debate private corporations.
The Mayor feels that Uber is a multibillion dollar corporation, and so is acting that way. He believes that the company is only looking for its bottom line, putting their profits above everything. He also assured that it was temporary while Uber’s impact is being studied.
Mayor de Blasio insisted that Uber’s rise in vehicles have had an impact on the congestion in the city, especially in midtown. This has also contributed to the rise in pollution. He seems surprised that until few years ago, no one knew Uber but, now suddenly it has more vehicles than the yellow taxis in all of New York City. He adds, it was clear that it grew consistently however, if the congestion issue is not addressed right away, it will simply go out of control over time. Thus, it called for a slowdown in the growth of it, not the entire service.
Sanam Reza
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