Third-Year Accessible Dispatch Fee Update For Taxicab Medallion Owners
In December 2011, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) approved the creation of the Accessible Dispatch program to provide on-demand taxi dispatch service to customers in wheelchairs. The program is financed by the Taxi Accessibility Fee, which is a required fee to be paid by all medallion owners annually pursuant to TLC Rule §58-16(f).
The Taxi Accessibility Fee for 2014-2015 is $260 per medallion you own or manage.
Medallion owners will receive a letter from the TLC and an invoice from Metro Taxi (the TLC vendor that operates the program) to pay the $260 per medallion fee for 2014-2015. The amount owners are required to pay is equal to the number of medallions owned, e.g., the invoice will be $520 for two medallions. All medallion owners are required to pay the Taxi Accessibility Fee even if they do not own a wheelchair accessible medallion.
This payment is mandatory. Failure to pay the taxi accessibility fee by April 18, 2014 will result in a summons and a $1,000 fine as per the cited rule.
The Taxi Accessibility Fee is set annually in accordance with the terms of agreement between the Commission and Metro Taxi, the approved accessible dispatch vendor.
The fee for 2014-2015 increased to cover costs associated with adding more accessible taxicabs to the Accessible Dispatch program. The TLC recently sold 400 wheelchair accessible medallions and will sell 250 more in the near future for a total of 650 new wheelchair accessible medallion taxicabs.
With the addition of 650 new taxis, the Accessible Dispatch program will operate with a fleet of 881 wheelchair accessible cabs in the coming year.
The total cost of the program is $3.5 million. The budget will cover program administration and operating costs for a fleet of 881 wheelchair accessible taxis: call-taking and dispatch costs as well as administrative costs; new hardware and software technology for 650 accessible taxis; outreach, advertising, and marketing; a dispatch fee to administer the Accessible Dispatch program; driver dispatch costs or "deadhead"; and prior year cost.