De Blasio Drops Plan for Uber Cap

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has decided that for now, the city won’t cap the number of private drivers working for the Uber ride service in NYC.

The deal, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed to Patch by the involved parties, comes just one day before De Blasio planned to bring a proposed Uber cap to vote at City Hall.

Under the city’s plan, which included two different bills, Uber wouldn’t have been allowed to add more than 200 cars to its current fleet of 19,000 over the next year. City Hall would have used the time to study the effects of ridesharing services on traffic and pollution.

In its vicious counter-campaign, Uber has accused De Blasio of bowing to the city’s yellow-cab union. The company has argued that City Hall’s cap would deprive nearly 10,000 New Yorkers of jobs as Uber drivers.

But at least for now, that scenario has been set aside.

“The City will move forward with a traffic study, to conclude at the end of November, to examine the impact of Uber and the for-hire vehicle industry on traffic congestion on New York City streets,” says Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris in a statement sent to Patch.

“The cap legislation currently before the City Council will be tabled throughout the traffic study process,“ he says.

Part of the agreement is that throughout the four-month study, Uber has agreed to share company information “above and beyond what has previously been provided,” according to Shorris.

He says Uber has also agreed to “maintain its approximate current rate of growth and not flood the streets with new licenses and vehicles.”

Josh Mohrer, general manager of Uber, likewise confirms the deal in a statement sent to Patch:

“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with Mayor de Blasio’s administration and the City Council to collaborate on a joint transportation study and to work together on ways to continue expanding economic opportunity, mobility and transportation access in the city. We are pleased new drivers will continue to be free to join the for-hire industry and partner with Uber. Together, we can build an even better, more reliable transportation system. This is great news for all New Yorkers, including Uber riders and drivers.”

According to the deputy mayor, the city will use the four-month study as an opportunity to review the entire taxi, for-hire vehicle and livery industries.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.