Bill Text: NY S06781 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Allows commuter vans to accept hails from prospective passengers in the street; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-3)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-04 - PRINT NUMBER 6781B [S06781 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06781-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6781--B

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       May 9, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. PARKER, BAILEY, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, JACKSON,
          LANZA, MYRIE, PALUMBO, PERSAUD, RAMOS, RHOADS, SANDERS --  read  twice
          and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
          on  Cities 1 -- recommitted to the Committee on Cities 1 in accordance
          with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,
          ordered  reprinted  as  amended  and  recommitted to said committee --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  administrative code of the city of New York, in
          relation to allowing commuter vans to accept  hails  from  prospective
          passengers  in  the  street;  and  providing  for  the  repeal of such
          provisions upon expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. Subdivision p of section 19-502 of the administrative code
     2  of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 37 of  the  city
     3  of New York for the year 2019, is amended to read as follows:
     4    p. "Commuter van" means a commuter van service having a seating capac-
     5  ity  of  at least nine passengers but not more than twenty passengers or
     6  such greater capacity as the commission may establish by rule and carry-
     7  ing passengers for hire in the city duly licensed as a commuter  van  by
     8  the  commission  and  not  permitted  to  accept  hails from prospective
     9  passengers in the street except as authorized pursuant to subdivision  c
    10  of this section. For purposes of the provisions of this chapter relating
    11  to  prohibitions  against  the operation of an unauthorized commuter van
    12  service or an unlicensed commuter van, the enforcement of such  prohibi-
    13  tions  and  the  imposition of penalties for violations of such prohibi-
    14  tions and to the seizure and forfeiture of commuter vans, the term shall
    15  also include any common carrier  of  passengers  by  motor  vehicle  not
    16  subject  to  licensure  as  a  taxicab,  for-hire vehicle, or wheelchair
    17  accessible van and not operating as a  public  or  private  bus  transit

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07042-05-4

        S. 6781--B                          2

     1  service operated pursuant to a contract with the city, any county within
     2  the state of New York, the state of New York or any other state or local
     3  government that follows the applicable procurement rules and regulations
     4  of  such  jurisdiction  regardless  of  the seating capacity of any such
     5  vehicle. The commission shall submit to the  council  the  text  of  any
     6  proposed  rule  relating to the maximum capacity of commuter vans at the
     7  time such proposed rule is published in the City Record.
     8    § 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 19-504 of the administra-
     9  tive code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 115 of
    10  the city of New York for the year 1993, is amended to read as follows:
    11    (1) A taxi-cab, coach, wheelchair  accessible  van,  commuter  van  or
    12  for-hire  vehicle  shall operate within the city of New York only if the
    13  owner shall first have obtained from the commission  a  taxicab,  coach,
    14  wheelchair  accessible van, commuter van or for-hire vehicle license for
    15  such vehicle and only while such license is in full  force  and  effect.
    16  Vehicle  licenses  shall  be  issued for a term of not less than one nor
    17  more than two years and shall expire  on  the  date  set  forth  on  the
    18  license  unless  sooner suspended or revoked by the commission. No motor
    19  vehicle other than a duly licensed taxicab or commuter van where author-
    20  ized pursuant to subdivision c of section 19-502 of this  chapter  shall
    21  be  permitted to accept hails from passengers in the street. No commuter
    22  van shall be operated within the city of New York unless it is  operated
    23  as  part  of  a  current,  valid authorization to operate a commuter van
    24  service duly issued by the commission pursuant to  section  19-504.2  of
    25  this chapter.
    26    §  3. The section heading of section 19-516 of the administrative code
    27  of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 115 of the  city
    28  of New York for the year 1993, is amended to read as follows:
    29    Acceptance of passengers by for-hire vehicles [and commuter vans].
    30    § 4. Subdivision b of section 19-516 of the administrative code of the
    31  city  of  New  York, as amended by local law number 6 of the city of New
    32  York for the year 2017, is amended and a new subdivision c is  added  to
    33  read as follows:
    34    b. [No] Except as provided in subdivision c of this section, no commu-
    35  ter  van  service  and no person who owns, operates or drives a commuter
    36  van, shall provide, permit or authorize the provision of  transportation
    37  service  to  a  passenger  unless  such service to a passenger is on the
    38  basis of a telephone contract or other prearrangement. Where a violation
    39  of this subdivision has been committed by a driver of  a  commuter  van,
    40  the  commuter  van  service  and the owner of such vehicle shall also be
    41  liable for a violation of this subdivision.
    42    c. The commission shall establish a  pilot  program  to  evaluate  the
    43  impact  of  commuter  vans accepting street hails. Until June thirtieth,
    44  two thousand twenty-seven commuter vans duly licensed by the  commission
    45  to  carry  passengers  for  hire  are  authorized  to  accept hails from
    46  prospective passengers in the  streets  of  the  city of New York within
    47  Queens community district  twelve,  Brooklyn  community  district  five,
    48  Brooklyn  community  district nine, Brooklyn community district sixteen,
    49  and Brooklyn community district seventeen, provided that  such  authori-
    50  zation  shall  prohibit  the  pick  up  of  passengers by street hail at
    51  airports or in such other area as the commission shall by rule prohibit.
    52  No later than February first, two thousand twenty-six and annually ther-
    53  eafter until the completion of the pilot program established pursuant to
    54  this subdivision, the commission shall submit a  report  to  the  mayor,
    55  speaker of the council, governor, the temporary president of the senate,
    56  and  the  speaker  of the assembly, evaluating the pilot program with an

        S. 6781--B                          3

     1  analysis of the impact of commuter vans accepting hails from prospective
     2  passengers in the streets and  any  recommendations  of  the  commission
     3  regarding  the  authorization  of  commuter  vans  to  accept hails from
     4  prospective passengers in the streets of the city of New York.
     5    §  5.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
     6  have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30, 2027.
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