Uber and Lyft poured thousands and thousands of {dollars} into efforts to legalize congestion tolling — and so they stand to be among the many largest winners.
Uber spent $2 million alone from 2015 to 2019 to advertise congestion pricing, roughly $1 million of which went to a number of the metropolis’s prime lobbyists, the corporate confirmed to The Publish in 2019.
Since then, each and Uber and Lyft have continued to rent prime lobbyists to assist persuade key state and metropolis officers to approve the controversial levy, together with Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, information present.
It’s unclear how a lot the businesses spent lobbying for congestion pricing as a result of the lobbyists employed labored on a number of points, and officers information don’t break it down.
The ride-share firms declined to supply The Publish a breakdown — and even an estimate — of its lobbying bills.
Lyft — which additionally personal the CitiBike program — has additionally straight contributed to pols who’ve been pushing the polarizing scheme.
Lyft poured over $125,000 into state campaigns since 2020 – together with $18,500 the previous 4 years to Hochul, who pushed it ahead after a quick pause close to the election, information present.
It additionally donated $10,000 in 2020 to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who backed congestion pricing when he was in workplace however now needs to hit the brakes on it.
It’s been cash properly spent.
The rising trade — which acquired an enormous increase final yr when the town lifted a cap on what number of for-hire autos may be on the highway — stands to make a killing as a result of the brand new surcharge is each cheaper than the $9 payment non-public autos pays to enter elements of Manhattan, and the $2.90 straphangers pay to take subways and buses, critics say.
The ride-hailing providers will probably be slapped with a further $1.50 surcharge for Manhattan journeys beneath sixtieth Road. However the extra prices will probably be handed on to prospects — identical to an identical $2.75 “congestion fee” on all journeys beneath 96th Road licensed in 2019.
“This is corporate greed at its worst,” mentioned Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens), who opposes congestion tolling. “These companies will stop at nothing to rewrite the rules in their favor while leaving chaos in their wake.”
The brand new tolls match “right into” Uber and Lyft’s “business model to charge a premium for access to the scarcest street — those in core Manhattan” – and its prospects will profit from sooner service with much less automobiles on the road, mentioned Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow on the Manhattan Institute.
“The sudden sticker shock here won’t be felt by Uber and Lyft or their passengers, but by the regular driver,” she mentioned.
Susan Lee, one of many plaintiffs in a slew of lawsuits looking for to cease the congestion tolling, blamed the for-hire trade for “pushing” congestion tolling and flooding metropolis streets with its roughly 100,000 autos — inflicting a lot of NYC’s gridlock.
“If the motivation is to incentivize people to take mass transit, then the new fee for for-hire vehicles should be equivalent to” the $2.90 value for a bus or subway trip,” Lee mentioned.
Josh Gold, a Uber spokesman, mentioned the corporate was “early supporters of congestion pricing — and still is — but “government can’t continue to raise prices and fees on New Yorkers and expect no consequences.”
Lyft spokesman CJ Macklin mentioned “we are supportive of congestion pricing and the positive impacts it could have on our city, but it must be done in an equitable way.”
“Our industry has already been paying a congestion fee since 2019 that has generated more than $1 billion in revenue to the MTA,” he mentioned. “We don’t think riders should be double taxed, and we lobbied hard for them to be exempt from this new additional $1.50 congestion fee.”