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Q&A
Implementation and impact of the Green Rides EV for-hire vehicle license program
1:38:55
·
3 min
Council Member Brooks-Powers inquires about the Green Rides EV for-hire vehicle license program. Commissioner Do provides details on the number of licenses issued and the program's impact on the industry.
- About 9,700 applications were received, with approximately 8,100 licenses issued.
- 93% of the licenses went to individual drivers.
- The influx of EV vehicles did not significantly impact utilization rates or lead to lockouts.
- TLC is working on balancing new driver onboarding with maintaining sufficient work for existing drivers.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:38:55
Thank you.
1:38:56
I want to pivot to GreenRives EV for higher vehicle applications.
1:39:01
How many new licenses were given out last year when the EV for high vehicle applications were open?
David Do
1:39:08
There were about 9700 applications.
1:39:11
We gave out about 87100.
1:39:15
And 93% of those went to individual drivers.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:39:20
What's the percentage?
David Do
1:39:22
93% went to individual drivers.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:39:26
Have all applications been processed?
David Do
1:39:29
We were very proud, and I thank our TLC licensing team for processing many of those licenses within a 3 month period, 4 month period.
1:39:39
Excuse me.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:39:40
What type of outreach was done to mitigate any negative impacts of the open and quick closing of the application process?
David Do
1:39:48
Yep.
1:39:48
So as part of the litigation, we were required to close it in a 96 hour period.
1:39:57
Right?
1:39:58
About 4 weeks before that we opened the licenses, only about 2500 applications were applied for.
1:40:06
And then overnight, there was about 7500 applications.
1:40:10
And so we We had a period where the judge recognized that it was Veterans Day to ensure that not only the public would know about the closure, we communicated that to the communities, and then the industry itself communicated to itself.
1:40:27
About that closure, and we saw a rush of 75100 applications in the 96 hour period before we had to close it on that Monday at 9 AM.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:40:38
And did the influx of additional EV for higher vehicles result in pressure on the utilization rate that might have led to the lockout?
David Do
1:40:46
Yeah.
1:40:46
That's a that's a very good question.
1:40:48
And in short now, many of the drivers were already driving.
1:40:53
They were in leasing arrangements.
1:40:55
Right?
1:40:56
And so they moved from having to lease upwards of 425 upwards to $900 a week to now owning their own vehicle and being able to own their own business.
1:41:09
And drive in New York City.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:41:11
And going forward, how do we manage the driver ecosystem to balance the interest of new drivers or add EVs and wheelchair accessible vehicles while also reducing empty cars on our streets and supporting driver pay.
David Do
1:41:27
Yeah.
1:41:28
So one of the the main issues that I I think we we need to reflect on was that Uber and Lyft were onboarding thousands of drivers as of late last year and even early this year.
1:41:39
Right?
1:41:40
Despite not having enough trips out there.
1:41:46
And so what we're doing is we're looking at ways to limit onboarding of new drivers and ensuring that our existing drivers have enough jobs before we allow for Uber and Lyft to onboard new drivers.
1:42:04
Again, like I said, it's a deliberative process.
1:42:06
We're looking at many ways that would assist us with this, but it is crucial that we take a lot of time to think about how it would impact the overall infrastructure of driver pay and the industry.