Like many New Yorkers, I came to New York in 1995 from Azuay, Ecuador, in search of new and better economic opportunities, of a better life. For seven years I have been driving with the Uber app to support my family, to pay for my children’s school, taking thousands of New Yorkers and their visitors throughout the city. For me, the most important thing is to have the flexibility and time to participate in the care of my children. However, the Congestion Charge proposals today threaten to significantly increase my expenses and affect the economy of thousands of drivers like me.
Without a doubt, using Congestion Charges to reduce traffic in Manhattan and raising funds for our public transportation system is important. However, for people like me who need to drive to support ourselves financially, the consequences of the plans proposed so far would be dire; not only for drivers like me whose job would now be at risk, but also for the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who depend on our services every day.
Despite the fact that we have already paid close to a thousand million dollars in congestion surcharge fees over the past three years, none of the seven proposed Congestion Charge plans include exceptions for For-Hire Vehicles (FHVs). Instead, they propose that drivers like me pay even more Congestion Charge tolls ranging from $5 to $23 dollars; one of the plans even proposes that drivers pay several times on the same day, once for each time we enter the commercial district of Manhattan (the streets south of Calle 60).
Many of us live outside of Manhattan, and many more still live north of the street 60 or outside of the business district. If any of these seven plans pass, drivers would have to pay a toll every time we leave home and enter the business district, regardless of whether we’ve even picked up our first passenger or not. Other shared transportation services, such as taxis, would have limited exceptions in two of the seven plans, despite the fact that our activity is significantly similar.
The MTA itself has admitted that these exorbitantly high tolls it will put many drivers out of work who simply will not be able to pay the tolls and it will reduce the demand for our services as passengers will not be able to pay higher prices either. The solution proposed by the MTA for putting us out of work? Help us to be bus drivers. And although providing us with some training sounds good, the reality is that this does not guarantee a permanent job for the more than 90,000 car rental drivers in New York. The proposal offends. Drivers like me choose this type of activity on purpose and have no desire to become bus drivers. More than 90% of for-hire drivers are immigrants who still face significant barriers when looking for work.
Not only that, the Losing our jobs would also put us at risk of losing the flexibility we value and need. Dealing with ride sharing platforms allows us to work on our own terms and schedules. Becoming bus drivers or adopting any other form of traditional employment would force me to live to work, on someone else’s terms and schedule. In addition, changing jobs means losing the flexibility to help my children with their studies.
Congestion Charges may work to reduce traffic and raise funds for the city’s public transportation system, but leaving thousands of people without an income is not the right way to do it. Even several civic organizations such as the Citizens Budget Commission, the Regional Planning Association and the Fix NYC program have recommended exempting rental vehicles from these new tolls.
The MTA needs to hear and address these concerns, to preserve our jobs by exempting for-hire drivers from more and new Congestion Charge tolls.
Wilson Cajilima is application driver