Uber Enlists App In War Against NYC Council Bills

NEW YORK, NY — Uber riders got an unexpected greeting Monday as the ride-sharing giant enlisted its smartphone app in the fight against New York City's efforts to rein in the booming industry.

A message pushed to the app in New York City warned users that proposed City Council bills could "make Uber more expensive and less reliable." It links to an Uber blog post urging riders to tweet their opposition to the Council with the hashtag "#DontStrandNYC."

The "app takeover" is part of Uber's aggressive campaign against the amended bills filed Friday that aim to restrict ride-sharing companies' growth and set minimium pay for app-based drivers. Uber said it has also launched a more than $1 million advertising campaign against the legislation.

"We believe New Yorkers will join us in supporting living wages for drivers and opposing a cap that will harm outer borough riders who have come to rely on Uber because of the unreliable, or non-existent subway," Uber spokeswoman Danielle Filson said in a statement.

The message will stay on the app indefinitely, Filson said. It accompanies TV, radio and social media ads Uber started running last week urging New Yorkers to fight the bills, which are revised versions of measures lawmakers have considered since this spring.

One bill, sponsored by Councilman Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn), would stop the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission from issuing new for-hire vehicle licenses for a year while it studies whether to impose new regulations on the sector.

The legislation would still allow new licenses for wheelchair-accessible vehicles. But it would also make New York the nation's first major city to put a limit on ride-sharing vehicles, according to The New York Times.

Another bill, sponsored by Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), would require the TLC to establish minimum payments for for-hire drivers working for "high-volume" services. The proposal comes on the heels of a study recommending a minimum pay rate of $17.22 an hour for app-based drivers earlier this month.

A vote on the landmark bills could come as early as Aug. 8. They're among several measures the Council has considered this year amid concerns about ride-sharing companies clogging city streets with cars and crushing the traditional taxi industry.

The campaign against the bills is reminiscent of Uber's successful 2015 fight against efforts to limit its growth, which famously targeted Mayor Bill de Blasio with a "de Blasio" app mode showing increased wait times.

After news of the legislation broke, millions of Uber customers got an email Friday bearing the subject line "URGENT: Your ride is at risk," with warnings similar to Monday's app message. The email also told riders to slam the Council on Twitter with the #DontStrandNYC tag, which now contains thousands of posts.

Council Speaker Corey Johnson said he "feel(s) good" about the legislation passing despite Uber's tenacious fight. The Council worked with various stakeholders, including Uber, in its legislative effort to "bring fairness to an industry experiencing upheaval," he said.

"We are trying to address a complicated problem thoughtfully and we will continue explaining that to New Yorkers — who when they see the bills will see that we aren’t cutting existing service and we have made it so that app-based companies can increase service in outer boroughs during the pause," Johnson said in a statement Monday.

The bills won praise last week from both app-based drivers and their colleagues in yellow cabs, who have argued that the ride-sharing industry's rapid expansion has pushed professional drivers to destitution and even suicide.

Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said the proposed cap on for-hire vehicle licenses is "a necessary pause button" as the city grapples with traffic congestion and declining mass transit ridership.

The Independent Drivers Guild, a group representing drivers for the city's four major ride-sharing apps, said it supports capping the number of TLC-licensed drivers rather than vehicles.

But it celebrated the proposal for minimum pay to protect app workers, who are generally considered independent contractors rather than employees and aren't covered by minimum-wage laws.

"Apps like Uber and Lyft cannot be allowed to exploit loopholes in the law to pay drivers sub-minimum wage pay rates," Ryan Price, the guild's executive director, said in a statement. "This has been a long time coming and we are excited to see the city starting to take action."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the proposed impact of Councilman Stephen Levin’s bill. It would stop the Taxi and Limousine Commission from issuing new for-hire vehicle licenses for a year, not stop it from limiting them.

(Lead image: A ride-hailing vehicle moves through traffic on July 30, 2018 in New York City. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)