S 4105: Allows commuter vans to accept hails from prospective passengers in the street.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4105 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 31, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PARKER, BAILEY, CLEARE, COMRIE, FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, LANZA, MYRIE, PALUMBO, PERSAUD, RAMOS, RHOADS, SANDERS, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1 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 18 service operated pursuant to a contract with the city, any county within 19 the state of New York, the state of New York or any other state or local 20 government that follows the applicable procurement rules and regulations 21 of such jurisdiction regardless of the seating capacity of any such 22 vehicle. The commission shall submit to the council the text of any 23 proposed rule relating to the maximum capacity of commuter vans at the 24 time such proposed rule is published in the City Record. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06261-01-5 
 S. 4105 2 1 § 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 19-504 of the administra- 2 tive code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 115 of 3 the city of New York for the year 1993, is amended to read as follows: 4 (1) A taxi-cab, coach, wheelchair accessible van, commuter van or 5 for-hire vehicle shall operate within the city of New York only if the 6 owner shall first have obtained from the commission a taxicab, coach, 7 wheelchair accessible van, commuter van or for-hire vehicle license for 8 such vehicle and only while such license is in full force and effect. 9 Vehicle licenses shall be issued for a term of not less than one nor 10 more than two years and shall expire on the date set forth on the 11 license unless sooner suspended or revoked by the commission. No motor 12 vehicle other than a duly licensed taxicab or commuter van where author- 13 ized pursuant to subdivision c of section 19-502 of this chapter shall 14 be permitted to accept hails from passengers in the street. No commuter 15 van shall be operated within the city of New York unless it is operated 16 as part of a current, valid authorization to operate a commuter van 17 service duly issued by the commission pursuant to section 19-504.2 of 18 this chapter. 19 § 3. The section heading of section 19-516 of the administrative code 20 of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 115 of the city 21 of New York for the year 1993, is amended to read as follows: 22 Acceptance of passengers by for-hire vehicles [and commuter vans]. 23 § 4. Subdivision b of section 19-516 of the administrative code of the 24 city of New York, as amended by local law number 6 of the city of New 25 York for the year 2017, is amended and a new subdivision c is added to 26 read as follows: 27 b. [No] Except as provided in subdivision c of this section, no commu- 28 ter van service and no person who owns, operates or drives a commuter 29 van, shall provide, permit or authorize the provision of transportation 30 service to a passenger unless such service to a passenger is on the 31 basis of a telephone contract or other prearrangement. Where a violation 32 of this subdivision has been committed by a driver of a commuter van, 33 the commuter van service and the owner of such vehicle shall also be 34 liable for a violation of this subdivision. 35 c. The commission shall establish a pilot program to evaluate the 36 impact of commuter vans accepting street hails. Until June thirtieth, 37 two thousand twenty-eight commuter vans duly licensed by the commission 38 to carry passengers for hire are authorized to accept hails from 39 prospective passengers in the streets of the city of New York within 40 Queens community district twelve, Brooklyn community district five, 41 Brooklyn community district nine, Brooklyn community district sixteen, 42 and Brooklyn community district seventeen, provided that such authori- 43 zation shall prohibit the pick up of passengers by street hail at 44 airports or in such other area as the commission shall by rule prohibit. 45 No later than February first, two thousand twenty-seven and annually 46 thereafter until the completion of the pilot program established pursu- 47 ant to this subdivision, the commission shall submit a report to the 48 mayor, speaker of the council, governor, the temporary president of the 49 senate, and the speaker of the assembly, evaluating the pilot program 50 with an analysis of the impact of commuter vans accepting hails from 51 prospective passengers in the streets and any recommendations of the 52 commission regarding the authorization of commuter vans to accept hails 53 from prospective passengers in the streets of the city of New York. 54 § 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 55 have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed June 30, 2028.