Ride-Hailing Gains Prominence for Any Special Session in Albany
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Version 0 of 1. ALBANY — Anyone who has ever used a ride-hailing app like Uber or Lyft has probably marveled at its surreal, somewhat spooky, ability to summon a car seemingly out of thin air. A similar sensation has been felt lately in the halls of the New York State Capitol, where allowing the use of such transportation apps in upstate New York has — in zero-to-60 fashion — become one of the most discussed issues in a potential special session of the Legislature. Such a session has been rumored for the last month, as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has dangled a possibility of signing off on a pay raise for lawmakers in exchange for an expanding raft of measures on ethics, homelessness, hate crimes and other topics. The outlook for a special session remains unclear. Still, even amid uncertain prospects for late-year deals — on ethics or anything else — the issue of ride-hailing has gained traction, in part because of a holiday-season push by Uber, the industry’s largest player, and other backers. Over Thanksgiving, for example, the company offered $100 credits to upstate college students who posted good Uber stories using the hashtag #NYNeedsUber. The company has also been asking upstate constituents to call lawmakers, while sponsoring a seven-figure digital and broadcast advertising campaign, with the motto “Join the Chorus,” citing its widespread acceptance nationwide and its ability to reduce drunken driving. Some of this is preaching to the choir: John J. Flanagan, a Long Island Republican who leads the Senate, has signaled his support for ride-sharing upstate, and his Senate colleagues passed a bill to that end last session. The Assembly did not follow suit, however, though on Monday, Carl E. Heastie, its leader, suggested a willingness to allow it if concerns including safety were resolved. “We’d love to have ride-sharing in all parts of the state outside of New York,” said Mr. Heastie, a Bronx Democrat. “And we’re looking to try to get it done.” Mr. Cuomo has supported ride-hailing, saying it would increase economic activity upstate, a central talking point for the second-term Democrat. It even came up at a public event in Albany on Dec. 8, when Mr. Cuomo was teased by his chief economic development official, Howard Zemsky. Mr. Zemsky, a Buffalo developer who leads Empire State Development, used an annual awards ceremony to tell a joke at the governor’s expense, saying he had called an Uber car to take him to that morning’s meeting from his Albany hotel — and had waited nearly three hours, and paid $650, for one to arrive from New York City. “I sure hope that doesn’t happen again next year,” Mr. Zemsky said, in a deadpan. Mr. Cuomo may also be using ride-hailing to lure recalcitrant upstate lawmakers to the table to address other issues. Companies like Uber are able to operate only in New York City because state laws for group insurance policies make it financially impractical to operate elsewhere. Industry backers point to a variety of evidence that upstate residents — and voters — want to use the apps. (In one case, Uber cited internal data to say that 43,000 people tried to gain access to its app in upstate New York on the day before Thanksgiving, “one of the busiest drinking nights of the year,” though that figure — or that drinking — could not be verified.) Adrian Durbin, director of policy communications for Lyft, another major ride-hail company, noted that ride-sharing laws had been adopted in 36 states. “We are hopeful that Albany will soon decide to bring all those benefits to New York State,” he said in a statement. Bills to change such insurance restrictions have run into opposition in the last two years from an array of groups, including the taxi industry, advocates of accessibility for the disabled and labor groups concerned about driver wages and the lack of other benefits. Jonathan Westin, the executive director of New York Communities for Change, said that “Uber is quickly becoming one of the largest low-wage employers in New York,” and suggested that the governor, who championed a higher minimum wage this year, should not back a company that helped “exploit and devalue its drivers.” John Tomassi, the president of the Upstate Transportation Association, which represents taxi and livery car interests, said its drivers simply wanted “a level playing field” with ride-hailing companies, including structured fares and “basic public safety” requirements like fingerprinting. He said he did not understand the rush to address such changes in a potential special session. “Why wouldn’t this be open to public discussions and hearings?” Mr. Tomassi said. “Why is this so special that we have to ram this through?” Ride-hailing companies seem willing to compromise, including paying new taxes on rides outside New York City, though they have opposed fingerprinting drivers, who the companies say are often part-time workers making money on the side. “Given the progressive leadership that the Assembly and the governor have played on criminal justice issues, we would be shocked,” if they embraced fingerprinting, said Josh Gold, an Uber spokesman, saying it should not be “an employment check.” As of Tuesday, the possibility of a special session seemed to be dimming. Any pay raise for 2017 would have to be approved by the end of the year, and the 2016 calendar is dwindling fast. But even without a special session, the issue is likely to remain a high priority for the 2017 session, which begins in January. Still, Uber and other ride-hailing supporters have continued to press in recent days, often with none-too-subtle incentives. On Tuesday, for instance, Uber announced that would offer free rides home for employees of a liquor distribution company, DeCrescente Distributing Company, which is near Albany, after “the many customer promotions and events that they participate in.” That would happen, of course, only if Albany legalized such rides, the company said. |