After an aggressive fistfight over New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed cap on the number of cars ride-hailing companies can add annually, Uber and the city government have reached a sort of compromise.
On Wednesday, the city agreed to temporarily drop its plan to cap the number of cars and will instead conduct a four-month study on the effect of services like Uber on city traffic and environment, according to the New York Times, citing multiple sources close to the situation.
Capping the number of cars could still be a possibility down the line, however, depending on the study’s findings.
The City Council was originally scheduled to vote on the bill, which would have capped companies like Uber and Lyft to growing its fleet by no more than 1% annually, on Thursday. Currently, about 20,000 of the city’s 60,000 for-hire vehicles are Ubers, according to the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Over the past several days, Uber has waged a bitter battle, including staging a protest, putting out television ads, releasing data on hourly Uber rides in the city, and even adding a demonstrative new option in its mobile app to illustrate the delays de Blasio’s proposal would cause for riders according to the company. On Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo gave his support for Uber in a radio interview.
De Blasio has been accused of siding with the taxi industry because of the large donations its leaders have made to his campaign.
