Revised Expense Model for the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission’s High-Volume For-Hire Vehicle Minimum Pay Standard
The Center’s landmark 2018 report helped the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) establish the first-in-the-nation minimum pay standard for 100,000 Uber and Lyft drivers. The pay standard included per mile and per minute components and accomplished three objectives, ensuring that: drivers were paid for all of their working time; their vehicle expenses were covered in full, and the companies would be incentivized to keep the number of drivers aligned with the growth in consumer demand for passenger trips.
This new report prepared for the TLC provides an updated method to quantify vehicle expenses and suggests appropriate modifications to the pay standard’s per mile trip distance component. The composition of the rideshare fleet has changed significantly in recent years and the TLC is phasing in a requirement that all vehicles be either electric or wheelchair-accessible by 2030. Electric vehicles have a different cost structure than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
This report is based on an extensive survey of drivers regarding current expenses, current data on the vehicle fleet, research on the cost of charging electric vehicles (EVs), additional investigation into the costs of renting a TLC-registered vehicle, and research on vehicle-related costs.
The report recommends a composite per mile cost factor reflective of vehicle cost structures along two dimensions: owned vs. rented, and ICE vs. EV vehicles. Cost structures reflecting acquisition (or rental) costs, insurance, maintenance, and fuel or battery charging costs were compiled for each of four vehicle categories and weighted to reflect each category’s projected share of high-volume trips for 2025. The report also updates the expense factor for wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs). The findings of this report were incorporated into a set of regulatory rules proposed by the TLC in early January. Following a public hearing, the TLC will vote on the proposed rules in spring 2025.