Ride Sharing Expands On East End, Lawmakers Weigh In

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — With new legislation allowing the expansion of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft on the East End and in upstate New York taking effect on Thursday, East End lawmakers weighed in on how they believe the new services would impact their towns.

“Hey, Long Island — your Uber is arriving now," said Alix Anfang, Uber spokesperson. "New Yorkers have been demanding ridesharing in their communities for years and our state leaders have delivered ensuring that starting this holiday weekend, residents and visitors will always have an affordable, reliable ride."

For East Hampton, it means that services such as Uber are back, after a lengthy dispute some years back.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said the town, stripped of local control, has adopted new parking restrictions, which include 15 minute parking in Montauk for the Transportation Network Company, ie. Uber, as well as taxis.

The legislation states that no taxicab or TNC vehicle may be parked on any public road in the hamlet of Montauk — the Montauk school district — except when actively dropping off or picking up a fare between the hours of 9 p.m and 6 a.m. the immediately following day. Between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., no taxi or TNC vehicle will be allowed to park in Montauk for more than 15 minutes, except for when actively picking up or dropping off a fare.

In addition, the legislation states, no taxi or TNC vehicle can be parked in the Kirk Park parking lot in Montauk or the public park at Euclid Avenue in Montauk except when actively picking up or dropping off a fare.

Taxi drivers must obtain a license from the town clerk, a taxicab driver's license and display livery plates; TNC drivers must be fully compliant with New York State vehicle and traffic laws, the legislation states.

According to the state budget, passed in April, the rollout would have been July 9, but because there was a desire to see the ride hailing services in place for the July 4 weekend, a second bill was passed to change the date to June 29.

The changes to state law, which include lifting a restriction that previously would not allow a company to provide insurance to cars it did not own, as well as allowing the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to have licensing power over shared ride sharing, has meant expansion into other parts of New York State for services such as Uber and Lyft.

Cantwell said the legislation prohibits local regulation, except for parking and other minor exceptions; East Hampton Town, he said, then stepped in to create parking restrictions. The town's law now reflects state law, which says that a taxicab can be licensed by the town, and is allowed to pick up riders who hail vehicles and pay in cash.

TNC vehicles, such as Uber and Lyft, can only be licensed by the state and can only be hailed, and paid for, via the phone app, he said.

"You can't be both, it's one or the other," Cantwell.

Cantwell has long been livid about the new legislation. "They changed the law and left local governments hanging out to dry," he said.

Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said Southampton has never tried to block Uber or Lyft but wanted to treat them the same way as the taxicab industry.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell believes Uber drivers will respond to demand.

When asked if he has concerns about drivers who might not be familiar with local roads, he said, "It is doubtful that we will see a bunch of Uber drivers driving around aimlessly trying to figure out where they are. I may also point out that, while some drivers will, undoubtedly, not be familiar with our roads, they will learn them in short order. Most tourists aren't familiar with our roads, either. In time, I would hope that as Uber drivers become familiar with our town that they replace drivers who aren't."

State control

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has said, for more than a year, that he’d like to see a New York State-wide regulatory framework for issues such as insurance, taxes, and vehicles.

Local control is the issue that has polarized communities: Under the new legislation, unlike New York City, which has a taxi and limousine commission, the new legislation gives all jurisdiction in regard to ride sharing to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles — meaning that local governments no longer have the ability to regulate ride sharing as they do other taxis and limousines, New York State Assemblyman Fried Thiele said, in an earlier Patch interview.

Thiele protested a component of the new plan that means a four percent fee on every ride, with all funds going into the state's general fund, with local municipalities not seeing a penny.

"I wanted ride sharing services such as Uber or Lyft treated like any other taxi or limousine and subject to local control," Thiele said. "Obviously, as a former town supervisor, I'm always a big proponent of local control and I think the circumstances we've seen in Montauk have shown the need for local control."

The rollout has had at least one East End supervisor furious.

"Governor Cuomo just cut a deal with Uber and kicked in the teeth every local community in New York State that is trying to protect the health safety and welfare of its residents," Cantwell said in March. "Worse yet, he just established a double standard for local businesses. If you're Uber and pay a new Cuomo tax you get to avoid local rules but if you're a cab company, you can't. Get ready for the invasion of Uber drivers, sleeping in their cars, taking up public parking spaces, and congesting our streets and parking lots this summer."

The new parking restrictions are meant to put the brakes on Uber or Lyft drivers sleeping in their cars in Montauk, the supervisor said.

East Hampton's Uber ride

After a proliferation of ride sharing in Montauk and other parts of East Hampton sparked congestion on already crowded roads, in 2015, East Hampton Town adopted laws to require cabs to be operating under a license with an East Hampton address. The town announced in 2015 that Uber, a mobile app that connects riders with a taxi, private car or ride-share from their mobile phone, had suspended operations in East Hampton immediately.

Several Uber drivers went to court in 2015 facing misdemeanor charges for licensing violations in East Hampton after the town cracked down on the ride-sharing service.

Cantwell said at the time that three solutions could exist. Uber could open a home office in the town so drivers who wanted to work in the town could register their cars with the office address. The drivers could chose to own or lease their cars which would allow them to operate as a separate business for hire, and each would apply for their own business license. Second, Uber could form a partnership with a local company that is already licensed and headquartered in East Hampton. Or, the supervisor said, Uber could recruit East Hampton residents as Uber owners or drivers.

Cantwell also said that the regulations governing cars for hire specifically allow an owner of one or two cars to run the business using his or her home address, as long as it is in the town.

Welcoming ride hailing

But not all East End supervisors are opposed to ride sharing.

Schneiderman has said he likes Uber and feels ride sharing is a way to reduce drinking and driving, as well as the number of cars on the road. Riders know their fares upfront and aren't blindsided by a hefty cost, he said.

Putting the brakes on ride sharing services could also mean a drop in tourism, Schneiderman said. "Some visitors are coming from New York and metropolitan areas and are accustomed to Uber. Without it, they may feel less comfortable and may choose to stay in another area."

Schneiderman said he disagrees with Cantwell on the issue. "I think Uber is a good thing, not a bad thing. I was not happy when Uber decided not to do business in East Hampton. I thought that was a loss of choice for consumers," he said.

The loss of tourism without ride sharing could be problematic, Schneiderman said. And, most important, he said, "We want people not to drive when they drink. They risk their lives and other innocent lives."

Schneiderman, who's owned a family run hotel in Montauk his whole life, said the issue is critical to tourism on the East End. "So much of the new clientele is accustomed to Uber and are looking for Uber. Without the service, these people might choose another destination."

Russell has said while he is generally opposed to New York State usurping local control on any issue, as it pertains to Uber and other ride sharing options, "My position on Uber, etc., is that such services would be a good thing for Southold. They would fill a desperate need for local transportation and get some cars off the road that shouldn't be on the road."

Thiele said he supports ride sharing. "It's something I think the community wants and should have. My only disagreement has been the way it's being regulated."

Thiele said he supported home rule and local control and voted to reflect his views in Albany. "But now it's in place. Hopefully, it will work well, because I think it's valuable for the community."

Photo courtesy of Flickr/CreativeCommons/johnwatsonphotography