Lander Raises Concerns That Uber Could Kill Green Taxi Industry

Speaking at City & State's NYMoves event, New York City Councilman Brad Lander said he likes using Uber, but raised several concerns about the impact of allowing the company to continue to grow without some regulation. 

Specifically, Lander raised concerns that Uber could significantly hinder the green taxi service in the outer boroughs, which would eliminate the only handicap-accessible transportation for many.

"I don't think that in the next nine months to a year that Uber will out-compete all the yellows and eliminate them from New York City, but I think there is a real chance that they could entirely out-compete the greens if we don't do anything," Lander said. "Today green taxis in the outer boroughs are the only wheelchair-accessible vehicles for hire. Now we could have wheelchair accessibility rules on our for-hire vehicles and Ubers, but we don't today." 

The powerful Brooklyn city councilman tried to make a larger point about the emergence of Uber from a holistic approach that focused on addressing the antiquated laws that govern the industry.  

"We clearly need a new set of rules for the whole TLC system that allow for competition and innovation, that improve access and accessibility for street hails, for app hails, for cars. I'd like to be able to schedule a pickup," he said. 

The City Council was expected to vote on two bills—one that would curb app-based car services’ growth, and a second that would launch a yearlong study of the impacts of the industry’s expansion—as early as Thursday, but a deal was struck today postponing any votes impacting the industry for four months. 

Watch Councilman Lander's comments below: